Alice Weiss, Project Director
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Alice Weiss joined NASHP in 2007, and is the co-director of Maximizing Enrollment: Transforming State Health Coverage, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that aims to help states increase enrollment and retention of eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP and establish and promote best practices as states prepare enrollment and retention systems for health reform implementation in 2014. Alice also provides technical assistance expertise and leadership to other projects relating to eligibility and enrollment issues, health reform implementation, children’s coverage, and Native American health coverage. Alice came to NASHP from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, where she was health counsel for Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), with primary responsibility for Medicaid, CHIP, and private health insurance coverage issues. During her tenure at Finance, Alice helped write the bipartisan CHIP Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), Hurricane Katrina health relief legislation, and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and was integrally involved in Medicaid reform debates. Alice has also held senior health policy positions at the National Partnership for Women & Families and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, supporting private coverage and Medicaid reform legislative initiatives, most notably in her work on the Patients’ Bill of Rights managed care reform legislation. She received a BA from Haverford College and a JD from Northeastern University Law School.
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For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
