NASHP recently brought together a group of state and federal policy leaders to discuss the Medicare-Medicaid Financial Alignment Initiative, D-SNP health plans, and other programs and resources aimed at aligning health care payment and delivery to improve care for dual eligibles. See a report from the meeting and sign up for a webinar on state contracting with D-SNP plans, a strategy that meeting participants described as an underutilized tool that states can use to advance positive change. Read the full report here.
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Research has shown that a quality home visit by a nurse, social worker, early childhood educator or other trained personnel during pregnancy and early parenting can improve the lives of families and their children both at an early age and well into adolescence and early adulthood. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have been working collaboratively to inform states about resources available to help them meet the needs of pregnant women and families with young children through evidence-based home visiting (EBHV) services. In March 2016, they released a Joint Information Bulletin on Coverage of Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Services.
A recent NASHP webinar featuring representatives from HRSA and CMS, along with a representative from South Carolina, a leading state in home visiting, and another policy expert addressed federal resources and opportunities, as well as state strategies for coverage of evidence-based home visiting services.
The Federal Home Visiting Program (also known as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program or MIECHV) supports voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for at-risk pregnant women and their young children from pregnancy to kindergarten entry. The program is built on decades of research showing that home visits by trained providers can improve maternal and child health, support positive parenting, prevent child abuse and neglect, and promote child development and school readiness. Research also shows that evidence-based home visiting can provide a positive return on investment to society through savings in public expenditures on emergency room visits, child protective services, special education, as well as increased tax revenues from parents’ earnings.
The Federal Home Visiting Program, administered by HRSA in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), provides funds to states, territories, and tribal entities to implement home visiting programs in high-risk communities. It is important to note that the Federal Home Visiting Program offers targeted funds that are not necessarily statewide; therefore, in areas that are not targeted by the program, Medicaid may be the only payer for home visiting services. By law, state and territory awardees must spend the majority of their Federal Home Visiting Program grants to implement evidence-based home visiting models, with up to 25 percent of funding available to implement promising approaches that will undergo rigorous evaluation. Additionally, the Program monitors grantee performance and supports continuous quality improvement systems. States have flexibility to tailor the program to fit the needs of their at-risk communities, and work in collaboration with other local and state early childhood systems. This is particularly important given the program has designated high-risk priority populations; in 2015 nearly 80 percent of the families served by the Federal Home Visiting Program fell below 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
When looking to expand and sustain the coverage of home visiting services, Medicaid engagement and collaboration can offer a variety of options for states. Currently, many states have seen success through Medicaid financing of evidence-based home visiting to enhance home visiting coverage and improve outcomes of Medicaid recipient populations. Under the Medicaid State Plan Authority there is no official benefit called “home visiting”; however, individual component services can be covered when Medicaid requirements are met. These services typically include: extended services to pregnant women, case management, preventive services, and the early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services benefit (EPSDT) among others. The overlap in services between those provided through EPSDT and Home Visiting offers an opportunity for EPSDT to be used as a permissible benefit pathway for the coverage of services.
State Medicaid agencies can also use various federal Medicaid authorities and approaches to help cover home visiting services including Health Homes (Section 1945 of Social Security Act), 1915(b) waivers, 1915(c) waivers, and 1115 waivers. Home Visiting can also be incorporated into Managed Care through new contract specifications. The previously mentioned ability to tailor evidence-based home visiting programs to meet local and state needs also applies when states are identifying opportunities through which they can work with Medicaid to cover and support these vulnerable populations. South Carolina Nurse Family Partnership Pay for Success Project In April 2016, South Carolina launched the nation’s first Pay for Success initiative focused on improving health outcomes for Medicaid eligible mothers and children.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicaid and the Pay for Success initiative, is using a 1915(b) Medicaid Waiver to expand and support the efforts of the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program. In Pay for Success (PFS) projects, funders provide upfront capitol to expand social services with payments tied to the achievement of pre-determined desired and measurable outcomes. The South Carolina Pay for Success initiative directed $30 million to expand the NFP’s evidence-based services to an additional 3,200 first-time low-income mothers across the state. Funding was provided by both philanthropic funders ($17 million) and through a Medicaid 1915(b) Waiver ($13 million). South Carolina chose to use a 1915(b) waiver as it allowed NFP to bill in real time for the cost of home visiting services, among other items. This program serves 30 of the 46 counties in South Carolina and is available for Medicaid-eligible, first-time mothers for nurse home visiting services ranging from no more than 28 weeks gestation to the child’s second birthday. The program is focusing on four outcome metrics for assessment of NFP’s impact. The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has $7.5 million available for success payments based on NFP’s performance on each metric. As of October 2016, the program has enrolled 811 mothers. Looking Ahead States have been using Medicaid to finance home visiting for over 20 years and continue to evolve in the approaches they use to provide coverage of these services for vulnerable mothers and children. To assist states in the development of polices and mechanisms needed to maximize Medicaid as a source of funding for home visiting, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Heising Simons Foundation have funded the Medicaid and Home Visiting Learning Network. This network of 11 states provides peer-to peer learning among states and supports individual states’ policy goals regarding coverage of home visiting services. A new resource, highlighting the lessons learned from the Medicaid and Home Visiting Learning Network and including a checklist for states, is forthcoming and will be nationally disseminated.
If you are interested in more information about federal efforts related to home visiting, the Medicaid and Home Visiting Learning Network, or South Carolina’s Pay for Success program, please refer to the slides from the NASHP webinar or a recording of the presentations.
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State agencies across the country, from Medicaid to public health, to social services and corrections, are deeply engaged in multi-sector initiatives to reduce infant mortality. And for good reason — the United States ranks 25th among industrialized countries in infant mortality with a disproportionate number of being African Americans.
Despite the gravity of the problem, infant mortality is responsive to policy and prevention strategies. There are recognized risks including smoking, limited pre/interconception care, unsafe sleep practices, and pre-term birth as well as evidence-based interventions that require a multi-sector approach.
NASHP’s 29th Annual State Health Policy Conference a session on infant mortality featured a snapshot of three state approaches: Colorado, Indiana, and South Carolina. Each of these states has developed a public/private partnership committed to comprehensive strategies that address both medical and social factors related to infant mortality. Each has participated in HRSA’s Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (IM CoIIN), identified state policy levers, and documented success stories. Colorado:
Colorado’s Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) has produced many positive outcomes. In fact, cumulative data as of December 31, 2015 shows that in 61 of the 64 counties served by the program, 90 percent of babies were born at a healthy weight and 91 percent of babies were born at full term . Because the NFP serves only first-time mothers, Health First Colorado, the state’s Medicaid program, offers Prenatal Plus to provide case management, nutrition counseling, and psychosocial services to all pregnant women at risk for negative maternal and infant health outcomes. These negative outcomes may be due to numerous lifestyle, behavioral, and non-medical factors that could affect pregnancy including a lost job or excessive debt, partner in jail, or prior low birth rate infant.
Health First Colorado has also devised strategies to ensure the accessibility of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC). The program pays full purchase price for LARC and a fee schedule rate for insertion at a physician’s office. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) are reimbursed through a Prospective Payment System (PPS) encounter rate based on full-costs for LARC devices and insertion. Health First Colorado received approval from CMS to pay free standing Rural Health Clinics (RHC) a separate payment for LARC devices because their PPS is not based on full cost methodology. The insertion of LARCs at an RHC is still paid at their PPS encounter rate. The state is also working with providers to reduce the rate of C-sections in low-risk, first time moms, and is considering options to provide physicians with information on their own C-section rates to encourage quality improvement. Indiana:
Indiana’s Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative recognizes the value of multi-sector partnerships and data-driven evidence-based strategies. Through a public/private partnership, the state Medicaid agency was able to establish a policy for nonpayment for early elective delivery. A Management and Performance Hub collects information from a variety of state data sources, including Medicaid, the Department of Corrections, and multiple State Department of Health sources including HIV/STD and Maternal and Child Health. This collection of data sources has assisted the state in identifying three distinct high-risk subpopulations that account for only 1.6 percent of the sample population but nearly 50 percent of infant deaths. This information has enabled the state to target interventions. These high-risk subpopulations include low birthweight, preterm birth, and limited access to prenatal care, the most significant factor identified.
As a demonstration of state commitment, the Safety PIN (Protecting Indiana’s Newborns) grant program enacted by the Indiana Legislature in 2015 appropriates $13.5 million to reduce infant mortality: $2.5 million will support development of a two-way app for pregnant women to encourage better prenatal care and $11 million will be distributed through a competitive grant program to nonprofit organizations, local health departments, and health care entities for innovative approaches to address infant mortality. South Carolina:
South Carolina’s Birth Outcomes Initiative is a public/private partnership of payers, providers, and other partners. Among its achievements are a dramatic reduction in early elective deliveries partly as a result of Medicaid nonpayment policies. Additionally through the initiative the state saw a 110 percent increase in LARC insertions in the past two years, and a decrease in infant mortality of 23 percent among non-white populations, and a 9 percent decrease overall.
South Carolina is the first state to initiate a pay for success model for birth outcomes, developed through a 1915(b) waiver in partnership with its NFP and the Children’s Trust. The program will enroll approximately 4,000 additional mothers in NFP evidence-based home visiting services over a four-year period. The waiver allows for “non-statewideness,” enabling the program to focus on communities most at risk. Through a combination of philanthropic support and Medicaid funding, the program provides upfront capital to expand services. Full success payments begin only if an independent randomized controlled trial finds that the NFP can meet the outcome targets: a reduction in preterm births by 15 percent, reduction in child injuries by 26 percent, and an increase in birth spacing by 20 percent. Other success payments will be made only if at least 65 percent of those enrolled reside within a set of targeted rural and underserved communities.
These states provide a snapshot of policy and financing levers that, as part of a comprehensive strategy, can make an impact on infant mortality. Questions remain about how best to capitalize on the momentum and develop complementary policy and programmatic approaches. For instance, what approaches can reduce the significant disparities as evidenced by an African American infant mortality rate that is two to three times higher than for the white population in each of the three states profiled? What are the most effective strategies for engaging African American communities in efforts to develop patient- and community-centered approaches? Some communities may be distrustful of LARC interventions unless they know the state policies for removal of the devices. In two of the three states profiled, Medicaid policies place limits on when removal is covered. In South Carolina they are covered when medically indicated and in Colorado coverage is provided when the medical provider and client are currently enrolled in the Medicaid program at the time of the LARC removal. What interventions are most effective in addressing social factors that contribute to infant mortality? Lessons will continue to emerge as all states continue to innovate and wrestle with these questions.
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To help better prevent and control costly conditions such as chronic diseases, and to break the cycle of poor health, states are experimenting with mechanisms to incentivize healthy behaviors and personal responsibility for wellness. This past October, as part of the 29th Annual State Health Policy Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, leaders from Connecticut, Idaho, and Indiana shared their experiences along with the unique approaches their states are taking to address this issue. As part of the session “Incentivizing Health Behaviors and Personal Responsibility: What Have We Learned?” the leaders addressed how these approaches align with their states’ priorities and goals. Connecticut offered cash incentives to Medicaid beneficiaries attempting to quit smoking, while both Idaho and Indiana reduced cost sharing in public health insurance programs if beneficiaries perform certain healthy behaviors. Connecticut
Among the three states discussed here, Connecticut’s incentive program has the narrowest scope. The state received a five-year federal Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases (MIPCD) grant to test the effectiveness of financial incentives in encouraging tobacco cessation among adult Medicaid beneficiaries. Connecticut’s program, Rewards to Quit (R2Q), began enrollment in April 2013 and divided enrollees into control and intervention groups. Those in the intervention group who utilized smoking cessation services or quit could receive money through a debit card. As of April 2016, 3,692 participants were enrolled in the program, compared to the enrollment goal of 6,210. Connecticut’s presentation slides at the NASHP Conference offer more details on the state’s MIPCD program. Idaho
Unlike Connecticut and Indiana, Idaho has not expanded Medicaid, and the scope and target population of Idaho’s program is more narrow than Indiana’s, The wellness arm of Idaho’s Preventive Health Assistance (PHA) program, introduced in 2007 as an amendment to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), has incentivized child wellness visits and vaccinations by reducing premiums for families whose children receive these services. In 2016, 18,809 out of 20,021 (93.9 percent) children in Idaho’s CHIP population have premiums, the remaining were exempted from paying premiums. Approximately 66 percent of these children’s families have earned premium reductions as a result of wellness visits. Prior to the implementation of PHA, only 40 percent of these children were up-to-date with their wellness checks and immunizations. Please see Idaho’s presentation slides at the NASHP Conference for more information. Indiana Indiana’s approach to incentivizing personal responsibility for wellness is similar to Idaho’s. Since 2008, Indiana has offered low-income individuals a high-deductible health plan paired with a health savings-like account called Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP)[1]. In 2015, the state expanded Medicaid under an § 1115 demonstration, and “HIP 2.0” became available to all non-disabled Indiana residents ages 19-64 with income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), including those that were previously eligible for Medicaid. As of November 2016, there were almost 400,000 enrollees[2]. HIP members can make monthly contributions to their POWER accounts, a feature of HIP that is similar to a health savings account (HSA). Members with income under the FPL who do not make POWER account contributions are transferred to a more limited plan without dental and vision coverage and are subject to co-payments for services. All CDC-recommended preventive services are available to all HIP members at no cost. HIP incentivizes its members to utilize prevention services by allowing unspent POWER account contributions to roll over to the next year to reduce future account contributions if members receive required preventive services. According to the state, HIP members who contribute to their POWER accounts are more likely to obtain preventive care (64 percent) than members who do not contribute (45 percent). For more information, please refer to Indiana’s slides presented at the NASHP Conference.
Evidence-based chronic disease prevention programs have a potential to reduce health care costs, and the results of these relatively new initiatives to incentivize healthy behaviors and personal responsibility will provide more information to policymakers. Historically, designing effective incentive programs has been a challenge. Previous research suggests that incentives are more effective in the short-term than in the long-term[3]. This raises several questions that states and other stakeholders should consider: 1) Can incentives promote healthy behaviors in the long-term that are substantial to improve health outcomes? 2) Are the programs cost effective? 3) How can states develop multi-sector strategies that align incentive programs with strategies that address social determinants that impose barriers to individuals trying to adopt healthy behaviors? 4) How might states finance this alignment? Although these questions remain, states are natural laboratories to test and evaluate incentive strategies that have potential to improve population health, experience of care, and control.
For additional information on states’ efforts to incentivize healthy behaviors in Medicaid, please go to this MACPAC Issue Brief. [1] To learn about HIP prior to Medicaid expansion, please visit this KFF Fact Sheet. [2] The Lewin Group, Inc. Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0: Interim Evaluation Report. [3]Blumenthal et al, 2013
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Post-election, federal leaders are debating changes to the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and whether it will continue in light of the goals put forth by the incoming Administration. Meanwhile, open enrollment for the health insurance marketplaces is in full swing, with some states reporting increased or record enrollment figures during these first weeks of enrollment (CO, MN, federally-facilitated marketplace states).
Leading up to this enrollment period–and drawing on lessons from previous years–states were hard at work developing new strategies and system improvements to ensure the ability of their marketplaces to provide access to affordable, competitive coverage options to the communities they serve. The more you know- using state resources to gather information Data sources such as U.S. Census surveys and reports issued by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services have provided valuable information for states hoping to better understand their uninsured and marketplace populations. However, beyond national data sources, several marketplaces have tapped into information collected by other agencies to help map out the uninsured in their state. For example, Oregon’s Health Insurance Marketplace uses a biannual survey issued by the Office of Health Analytics, to understand detailed information about health insurance coverage and impacts of the ACA on access and utilization. Vermont’sHousehold Health Insurance Survey collects information on uninsured residents as well as details about insured residents and their coverage options. MNsure, Minnesota’s SBM leverages the state Department of Health’s Health Access Survey to learn more about the uninsured in Minnesota, as well as to measure the impact of MNsure on that group. The large-scale telephone survey, conducted in partnership with the University of Minnesota, collects information about health insurance and health care access. In addition to providing information on demographic shifts in the non-group market, the survey allowed for the collection of information on uninsured residents’ awareness of MNsure, and their reasons for not pursuing coverage. Results from 2015 found that while many Minnesotans were aware of MNsure, many did not know about premium subsidies or realize that they would be eligible for them. Refined marketing and outreach strategies to target the remaining uninsured Nationally, the uninsured rate was 9 percent in 2015 and of the 15 SBMs, all but three are at or below this national rate. To best target pockets of the remaining uninsured, states are launching new outreach and marketing strategies and are refining successful strategies from previous years in efforts to attract populations that remain elusive. In Massachusetts, where 96.4 percent of residents are insured, the marketplace, known as the Massachusetts Health Connector (Connector), has identified three key populations where it will “focus and deepen” its outreach and marketing efforts–Latinos, workers at risk of losing employer coverage, and new state residents. As reported by the Connector, these populations have a greater risk of being uninsured or experiencing gaps in coverage. Through research conducted through state and local data sources, and in tandem with engagement of community partners, the Connector has honed in on campaign methods that best resonate with these populations. For example, the Connector learned that for those in volatile industries who may be at risk of losing employment and health coverage or with uncertain employment, cost is a huge perceived barrier in gaining insurance. This is particularly so for those who may have variable income for a time and are uncertain how to report it. Outreach to this population recognizes the high stress of economic uncertainty and educational materials explain how to make reporting that income easier. In Massachusetts, Latino individuals are significantly more likely to be uninsured than any other ethnic group. For OE4 the Connector has partnered with the Latino Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations to increase awareness and create clearer messaging from within the community. Outreach targeting new residents focuses on awareness of special enrollment periods—the designated time many individuals who move may qualify for enrollment.
Last year, Covered California found great success with their “hotspot” maps of subsidy eligible populations these will be continued this year. To inform its OE4 outreach plans, Covered California conducted qualitative and quantitative research with uninsured residents including evaluation of over 31 focus groups in five languages. In total, 3,427 insured and uninsured people were surveyed across multi-segment, African American, Asian, Hispanic, and LGBTQ communities. Covered California found that across all segments, the remaining uninsured have adopted “coping strategies” to deal with their lack of coverage, including relying on the emergency room for care to avoid a doctor’s appointment. This makes it harder to convince the long-term uninsured population to buy coverage. In addition, Covered California found that consumers want specifics of what is offered through the marketplace, but simultaneously are overwhelmed by the insurance selection process. In response, Covered California adjusted its advertisements by adding carrier brand names and logos to ads, appeasing the need for more specificity. It has also strengthened efforts to show empathy for consumers seeking in-person assistance, stressing the availability of free expert help. Covered California also tested several marketing strategies and found that their “It’s Life Care” campaign, which “emotionally conveys the value of coverage” tested well with all groups, with slight variations and areas of nuance in certain segments. Colorado’s marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado (C4HCO), worked with community-based organizations to collect data about high-uninsured areas. C4HCO required community organizations seeking to join Colorado’s assistance network to include their targeted zip codes and outreach work plans as part of their applications to become assisters. It has partnered with Enroll America to cross-reference those zip codes with data collected by the Colorado Health Institute about the location of the state’s uninsured. Enroll America was then able to create individualized maps of targeted zip codes to deliver to assister organizations. The data also informs a highly targeted digital marketing campaign. C4HCO has partnered with the Colorado’s Medicaid agency to capture contact information on consumers who are denied Medicaid eligibility and have not enrolled in a marketplace plan. Those residents — many thousands believed to be subsidy Eligible But Not Enrolled (EBNE) — will be contacted by email and by phone in a multi-pronged outreach campaign during OE4. Looking Ahead The lessons of the marketplaces, and the steps they have taken to respond to the needs of the constituencies of their states, will serve as important resources to inform future debate about the delivery of coverage across states. No matter what the congressional outcome is on the ACA, the fact remains that millions of Americans are getting their health insurance through the state exchanges and many more are continuing to sign up. This open enrollment period ends in January, and NASHP will continue to provide updates on the efforts of the marketplaces throughout. Future blogs in this series will examine the other ways that SBMs have improved their systems in preparation for open enrollment, from new consumer tools to new technologies, to innovative outreach strategies and community partnerships. Have questions or information to share about the marketplaces? We invite you to join one of our discussions to continue the conversation and think about how this work could inform the national policy debate
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While the importance of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for children has been widely documented, it is also important to remember that states can and many do use CHIP to provide coverage to low-and moderate-income pregnant women. With federal-funding for CHIP due to run out by the end of this federal fiscal year (September 2017), there are again discussions at the national level about the future of this coverage program. The following are some of the concerns state CHIP directors have shared with NASHP for pregnant women if funding for CHIP is not continued. Pregnant women are at risk of losing coverage. Currently, nineteen states have opted to cover pregnant women using CHIP funds. A recent NASHP poll of these states found that approximately 320,000 pregnant women were enrolled in CHIP-funded coverage at some point during the last state fiscal year. CHIP eligibility for pregnant women, as it is for children, is targeted towards those with low- to moderate family income and ranges from 185% to approximately 300% of the federal poverty level. This eligibility and enrollment data is broken down by state CHIP program and displayed on our CHIP Eligibility for Pregnant Women Map. Without CHIP some of the currently covered pregnant women may have access to other sources of coverage, such as private insurance through exchanges or through employer-sponsored coverage, but it could be very costly and ultimately unaffordable. Others who are uninsured and become pregnant may not be able to access exchange coverage if they try to enroll outside of open enrollment periods. And finally some women may not meet exchange eligibility rules that bar certain immigration statuses from enrolling in coverage. Exchange coverage might not be enough. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, pregnant women have new choices when it comes to coverage, such as access to private coverage through Health Insurance Marketplaces. Women face many decisions when navigating their coverage options and must weigh costs, access to existing providers, penalties for gaps in coverage and the possibility of transitioning to different coverage options post-pregnancy depending on their state. Although many women may qualify for tax credits and subsidies to make exchange plans more affordable, such coverage may still be too expensive for some low-income pregnant women. This is compared to CHIP, which is low or no cost for qualifying low-income pregnant women. NASHP recently explored the coverage options and decisions that pregnant women face in a set of infographics. These infographics also highlight policy implications for states to consider to improve coverage for pregnant women. Ensuring access to critical pre-natal care. Since 2002 states have had the option to use CHIP funds to provide coverage for income-eligible pregnant women regardless of their immigration status through the “unborn child option.” Currently 15 states operate coverage programs under the CHIP unborn child option. The services provided through this option can be more limited than the typical CHIP benefit package and are intended to support the growth and development of the unborn child. Because the coverage is targeted to the unborn child, who will be a citizen of the United States, the pregnant woman’s immigration status is not a determining factor for eligibility.
In addition to paying for delivery costs, the CHIP unborn child coverage allows states the option to provide access to important pre-natal care so lower income women are more likely to have healthier pregnancies. Healthier pregnancies lead to lower-risk, lower cost deliveries and an increased likelihood of healthier babies. State officials are concerned that without this coverage, there would be increased uncompensated care costs to hospitals for both delivering and caring for infants from potentially higher risk births. Ensuring pre-natal care reduces the risk for poor birth outcomes, which not only affect medical costs, but future costs to schools.
In the coming months as federal policymakers and state and national stakeholders consider the future of CHIP, pregnant women and their unique, important health care needs should be included in these discussions.
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NASHP in collaboration with theNational Center for Medical Home Implementation developed a new fact sheet addressing challenges and opportunities to provision of care for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) enrolled in Medicaid managed care. The fact sheet identifies states that leverage Medicaid managed care to advance the pediatric medical home model through payment incentives, technical assistance, and care coordination services.
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Tomorrow it will all be over, this long, costly, bitter, and divisive election will be behind us and we will know who America has chosen as our President, who has been elected to Congress, and a host of other important electoral outcomes. While this election has too often highlighted the differences within our country, a recent news story caught my attention – a bakery in North Carolina is reviving the tradition of baking election cakes. It seems our forebears celebrated each election with community events and rum soaked cakes – where all sides came together to celebrate democracy.
In the spirit of that history, let’s look for the icing on the cake. Perhaps this election will be the tipping point, bringing us all out of our corners and together to solve problems. Maybe this bitterness will give way to resolution that will usher in an era when Congress and the new Administration can work together to solve the challenges we face as a nation. But no matter what happens in Washington, states remain pragmatists, working to balance budgets and address priorities.
In health care, states have made extraordinary progress with support from the federal government. CMS has operationalized the Office on Medicare and Medicaid Coordination and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is investing in multiple demonstrations designed to improve how care is delivered and financed.
While the rhetoric around Obamacare has been heated and the policy debates real and intense, progress is inescapable, as is the fact that it is largely fueled by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). More people have health coverage than ever before. There is general support for the elimination of preexisting conditions, for allowing kids to stay on parents’ health plans until age 26; for the need to address costs and particularly pharmaceutical costs. And thanks to ACA investments, states are actively engaged in creative efforts to restructure how care is delivered and paid for to improve health and lower the cost trajectory.
Seventeen states administer state-based insurance exchanges or do so in partnership with the federal government. All 50 states have streamlined and simplified Medicaid eligibility and enrollment, and are working with the exchanges. For the first time, state demonstrations are coordinating Medicare and Medicaid to better serve elders and persons with disabilities.
The debates around Medicaid expansion and the opposition to the ACA mask bipartisan progress. Some “red states” have established State-based Marketplaces and expanded Medicaid using models that address state differences. Ten states – both “red and blue”- have implemented ACA-funded demonstrations testing whether financial incentives will motivate Medicaid beneficiaries to seek and initiate activities that improve health. States have created new community-based approaches to support health care delivery and payment models that address social determinants of health and one state will soon test an all payer statewide ACO. Thirty-six states are implementing Systems Innovation Model (SIM) federal demonstrations and 10 states, again both “red and blue”, have launched Delivery System Reform Initiative Programs (DSRIP)-among many other Medicaid waivers and similar initiatives. The states are alive with demonstrations and eager to focus these efforts into a strategic, on-going approaches to reform. Increasingly states realize that moving our health care system from paying for volume to value requires alignment among payers and this will require new partnerships with the federal government as well as new federal approaches to cross-agency collaboration. Now that Medicaid covers more people than Medicare, new approaches to policymaking and collaboration can enhance the purchasing power of those two important programs.
Regardless of the outcome of this election, there is considerable work underway in the states to inform national policy. NASHP convened a Summit of state leaders who have thought hard about state roles and a new Administration. We will release a paper soon informed by those discussions that lays out ideas to continue and expand state initiatives. States have long served as laboratories of innovation – major federal legislation like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the ACA were enacted only after states had experimented with children’s health care; insurance regulation, and insurance exchanges. Of course there are staggering challenges before us; the results of these state demonstrations won’t all be positive and there are many, many barriers to overcome to assure all have access to quality, affordable health care and better health. But on this Election Day, let’s reflect and think back to the early colonies and their experiment in federalism and democracy. An election cake and a celebration of this day may no longer have a place in our hurried, modern world but the idea of coming together – building on the federal-state collaboration underway to improve health and lower costs- still has great promise.
https://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.png00NASHP Writershttps://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.pngNASHP Writers2016-11-07 14:04:042019-08-29 15:30:46What a Difference a Day Makes…
Section 4108 of the ACA mandated the creation of the Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases (MIPCD) program for states to develop evidence-based prevention programs that provide incentives to Medicaid beneficiaries to participate in and complete. In 2011, 10 states were awarded grants to implement chronic disease prevention approaches for their Medicaid enrollees to test the use of incentives to encourage behavior change related to tobacco use, weight loss, and/or nutrition and heart health.
For more information on this initiative and the 10 states please visit the CMS map which provides detailed information.
https://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.png00NASHP Staffhttps://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.pngNASHP Staff2016-11-07 13:56:492019-10-16 14:08:26States with Medicaid Incentives for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases Model
States are rapidly undertaking major reforms within their health care delivery systems. Though not often specifically targeting children and youth, these reforms offer opportunities to positively impact how this population accesses care. In a recent NASHP webinar several states described how their health system transformation efforts are doing so. Massachusetts State Innovation Model Grant: Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project In 2013, Massachusetts used a portion of their State Innovation Model (SIM) testing grant, which focuses on payment reform, delivery system transformation, and cost and quality accountability to increase access to children’s behavioral health consultations.
Christina Fluet, the Director of Planning and Policy Development at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, shared how SIM grant dollars were used to support and expand the efforts of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP). The Project is a statewide system of child psychiatry consultation teams designed to help pediatricians and family physicians meet the needs of children with behavioral health challenges by providing telephone consultations with physicians, face-to-face consultations, community resource and referral information, as well as training and education for providers. This successful model has been adopted by 29 other states. The SIM grant funding allowed for Massachusetts to restore MCPAP services to full-time, increase utilization of services among primary care providers, develop sustainability strategies, increase needed services to address adolescent substance use and evaluate outcomes from grant activities. The Project is also exploring sustainability strategies for when SIM funding ends. New York Health Home Program: Expanding Services to Children As part of a larger, state-wide health system transformation effort, and through the authority granted under section 2703 of the Affordable Care Act, New York established a Health Home program which seeks to provide a comprehensive system of care coordination for Medicaid enrollees with chronic conditions. Health home providers integrate and coordinate all primary, acute, behavioral health, and long-term services and supports. Using this program, specific efforts are underway to improve access to these services specifically for children and youth.
Lana Earle, the Deputy Director in the Division of Program Development and Management at the New York State Department of Health, shared how the state is tailoring their existing adult health home model to serve the unique needs of children and youth. This tailoring process has included extensive collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, stakeholders, providers, and plans. In 2015, New York received approval for a Pediatric Health Home State Plan Amendment (SPA) from CMS with amendments to expand health home eligibility criteria and include child-specific conditions and definitions (complex trauma, serious emotional disturbance and a pediatric-specific BMI definition). The SPA also included an amendment for the use of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool (CANS-NY), a uniform assessment tool, to be used in creating a care plan, measuring acuity, determining a per-member per-month rate structure for children, and home and community-based services eligibility for new array of services. For those interested in more information on New York’s pediatric health home model, they have posted a vast amount of information for the public on the website. Ohio Accountable Care Organization: Partners for Kids Partners for Kids is a private Accountable Care Organization (ACO) that is a partnership between Ohio’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital and more than a thousand physicians who coordinate care for over 300,000 Medicaid enrolled children in 34 counties in the state. Kelly Kelleher, the Director of the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, explained how Partners for Kids is responsible for improving the quality of care and lowering costs for their enrollees by receiving capitated fees from Ohio’s five current Medicaid managed care plans and paying caregivers for the services provided.
As one of the country’s oldest and largest pediatric ACOs, Partners for Kids has learned important lessons in making this health system transformation effort successful. Kelly stressed the importance of state support for ACOs, access and sharing of data among providers and Medicaid, and the inclusion of health in different policy areas (transportation, housing, employment, etc.). Because of the ability to analyze data, Partners for Kids has been able to show cost savings and positive health outcomes for enrollees, something other states may be interested in as they implement or explore the use of pediatric ACOs.
If you are interested in hearing more about any of the above state experiences, please refer to the slides from the NASHP webinar or a recording of the presentations.
https://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.png00NASHP Writershttps://oldsite.nashp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/NASHP-Logo_website_168x157.pngNASHP Writers2016-10-31 15:39:182019-08-29 15:34:59How Health System Transformation Efforts are Improving Access to Care for Children and Youth
Make more effective use of data, data matching, and demonstrating return on investment (ROI):
Review Medicaid data on individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD)to identify those eligible for additional housing supports.
Create data sharing agreementsto share data among Medicaid, I/DD, mental health, and housing
Explore capital investment strategies for affordable housing acquisition and development.
Develop sustainable cross-agency financing.
Partners
Illinois Department of Human Services
Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services
Illinois Housing Development Authority
Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities
State Successes
Received approval for Behavioral Health Transformation Medicaid Section 1115 waiver that includes pre-tenancy and tenancy supports. Under the waiver, five independent pilot programs are currently being implemented. The state is exploring use of 1915(i) Medicaid authority to implement the remaining approved pilot programs, including a tenancy support project to support individuals at risk of institutionalization and homelessness.
Compiled information from a state-operated facility to inform interventions for super-utilizer groups in Chicago.
Examined the Cook County pilot’s success to determine statewide implementation possibilities in more rural areas of the state.
Worked with the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) to develop a state plan for supportive housing. CSH provided education and TA with a particular focus on supporting individuals living with developmental disabilities. This population remains a priority for the Illinois team.
Facilitated five rounds of funding for supportive housing developments of 25 units or less through the Permanent Supportive Housing Development Program, with approximately 100 units approved per round. The 2020 Request for Applications has been released, and IHDA is encouraging applicants to develop larger and more creative housing projects.
Next Steps
Continue review of health and hospital projects for potential state system data matching and housing initiative opportunities.
Continue work on pre-tenancy and tenant supports for Illinois residents.
Explore expansion or new avenues for services typically covered through Medicaid Section 1115 waivers for other populations, especially I/DD populations.
Why Palliative Care Is Important for States
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.
To address this gap, NASHP convened a cross-agency group of state policy leaders to provide guidance in developing a framework for how states, as agents of change, can foster access to quality palliative care services. Recognizing that policy development is always driven by the varied goals and priorities of individual states, NASHP’s Seven Ways State Policymakers Can Promote Palliative Careoffers a roadmap to help policymakers identify state-specific opportunities, areas of alignment, and ideas to aid future planning. Building on the roadmap, this toolkit provides additional concrete resources for states.
MaryAnne Lindeblad brings a broad health care and administrative background to the top position in the Washington State Medicaid program. Lindeblad, has been an active health care professional as well as a leader spanning most aspects of health care including acute care, long-term care, behavioral health care, eldercare and services for people with disabilities. Prior to her appointment as State Medicaid Director, she served for two years as the Assistant Secretary for Aging and Disability Services Administration in the Department of Social and Health Services. Previously, she was Director of the Health Care Services Division of the Medicaid program.
Lindeblad held a variety of leadership positions over the years, including Assistant Administrator of the Public Employees Benefits Board. During the 1990s, Lindeblad also worked in the private sector, serving as Director of Operations for Unified Physicians of Washington.
In 2010, she was selected for the inaugural class of the Medicaid Leadership Institute. In 2015 she was inducted into the Eastern Washington University Chapter of the Upsilon Phi Delta Society. She currently chairs the executive committee for the National Academy for State Health Policy, previously served on the board of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and the Olympia Free Clinic. Lindeblad holds a bachelor of science in nursing from Eastern Washington University and a masters in public health from the University of Washington
Erin C. Fuse Brown
Erin C. Fuse Brown
Associate Professor of Law Center for Law and Society, Georgia State University
Erin C. Fuse Brown, J.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor of Law and a faculty member of the Center for Law, Health & Society at Georgia State University College of Law. She specializes in health law and policy, and her research focuses on health care markets, consolidation, and cost-control. Fuse Brown has published articles in leading legal and medical journals about hospital prices, medical billing and collection, health care competition and consolidation, consumer financial protection in health care, and state health reforms. She has consulted with NASHP on legal analysis and proposals for how state all-payer claims databases can move forward following the Supreme Court’s decision in Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and on state strategies to control health care prices. She received a J.D. from Georgetown, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Victoria Veltri, JD, LLM, is the Executive Director of the Office of Health Strategy, appointed to serve as the first head of this agency in 2018. She was reappointed by Governor Ned Lamont in 2019 to oversee the office’s mission to implement comprehensive, data driven strategies that promote equal access to high quality health care, control costs and ensure better health for the people of Connecticut.
From 2016 to 2018, she was the Chief Health Policy Advisor in the Office of Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, coordinating the state’s health reform initiatives.
She is a member of the Board of Directors on the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange (d/b/a Access Health CT). Ms. Veltri has extensive legal experience in health care advocacy and in legislative policy and she lectures frequently at colleges, universities conferences on Connecticut’s health care initiatives.
Prior to joining Lt. Governor Wyman’s staff, Ms. Veltri was the State Healthcare Advocate.
Trisha Schell-Guy
Trisha Schell-Guy
Acting General Counsel
New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports
Trisha Schell-Guy is the Acting General Counsel for the NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports. In this role, Ms. Schell-Guy provides legal advice, guidance and policy making support to the NYS OASAS Commissioner, agency Executive staff and all agency divisions. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel, Ms. Schell-Guy served OASAS as Deputy Counsel for 5 years and as Associate Counsel for 5 years.
Ms. Schell-Guy also served as Senior Attorney for the NYS Office of State Comptroller and NYS Department of Motor Vehicles. Prior to her state service, Ms. Schell-Guy was engaged in the private practice of law for 13 years where she practiced in various areas of civil and criminal practice.
Ms. Schell-Guy has co-authored an article on Confidentiality and patient issues related to the sharing of substance use disorder treatment information for the Health Law Journal of the NYS Bar Association and has made numerous national and local presentations on issues pertaining to prevention, treatment and recovery issues impacting New Yorkers and the states system of care.
Ms. Schell-Guy resides in Glenmont, New York with her husband, two children and several pets.
Michael MacKenzie
Michael MacKenzie
Deputy Chief, Antitrust Division
Office of the Attorney General
Michael MacKenzie serves as an Assistant Attorney General and Deputy Chief of the Antitrust Division in Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office in 2011, he worked as an associate at Sachnoff & Weaver (now part of Reed Smith) and Eimer Stahl in Chicago. Mr. MacKenzie received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2006 and graduated from Yale University in 2003 with bachelor’s degrees in English and political science.
Jordan Kiszla is a Project Manager at the District of Columbia Department of Health Care Finance where she leads telehealth policy and behavioral health transformation activities. Ms. Kiszla was previously an Associate Program Officer for the Federal and State Health Policy Program at the Commonwealth Fund. Ms. Kiszla holds an M.P.H. with a concentration in health policy from George Washington University.
Jessica Altman has served as Pennsylvania’s Insurance Commissioner since August 2017. In this role, she regulates the insurance marketplace, oversees licensed agents and insurance professionals, monitors the financial landscape of companies in Pennsylvania, educates consumers, and ensures residents are treated fairly. She is chair of the Health Insurance and Managed Care Committee for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and Vice Chair of NASHP’s Health Care Access & Finance Steering Committee. She previously served the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight; and the health division of the White House Office of Management and Budget as a policy analyst. She completed her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University and received her Bachelor of Science in Policy Analysis and Management, concentrating in Health Care Policy, from Cornell University.
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith
Deputy Director
Adult Community Care Group, Division of Adult Services, New York State Office of Mental Health
Dr. Smith spent the last 7 years focused on Managed Medicaid implementation and systems transformation in the public behavioral health system in NYC. He is now also working on statewide initiatives, including Crisis System development, Telemental Health implementation and Integrated Care. Dr. Smith was a clinical administrator at Bellevue with responsibility for Forensic, Psychiatric Emergency and Substance Abuse Services. He also spent a decade working on Schizophrenia risk and prevention research at the Zucker Hillside Hospital.
Oliver Droppers
Oliver Droppers
Deputy Director for Policy Research, Legislative Policy and Research Office
Oregon Legislature
Dr. Droppers joined the Oregon Health Authority in 2010, as the project director for a five-year CMS CHIPRA Quality Demonstration project in Oregon, and also staffed the Oregon Medicaid Advisory Committee, which advises the operation of Oregon’s Medicaid program. While at OHA, Oliver also served as a senior analyst on a variety of legislatively created task forces and work groups aimed at expanding coverage for children and adults. In January 2017, Oliver transitioned to Legislative Policy and Research Office (LPRO), which provides centralized, professional and nonpartisan research to the Oregon Legislature. Oliver has staffed the House and Senate Health Care Committees. Currently, Oliver serves as the Deputy Director for Policy Research in the Oregon Legislature. Dr. Droppers is an adjunct faculty member at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. When Dr. Droppers is not engaged in public policy, he enjoys time with his two children and partner, and can be found exploring the Olympic National Park.
Ben Money
Ben Money
Deputy Secretary for Health Services
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
E. Benjamin Money, Jr. joined the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in 2019 as the Deputy Secretary for Health Services. His portfolio includes the Division of Public Health, Division of Health Services Regulation, the Office of Minority Health, and the Office of Rural Health. Ben previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) during a 10-year period of unprecedented growth in organizations, clinical sites and patients served. In this role, Mr. Money was a the vice-chair of the National Association of Community Health Center Primary Care Association Leadership Committee, the Chair of the Southeast Health Care Consortium, a member of the boards of the NC Institute of Medicine, the NC Health Care Quality Alliance, the NC Health Information Exchange Advisory Board, the NC Safety-net Advisory Council, the Care Share Health Alliance and the public health practice advisory committees for both the East Carolina Brody School of Medicine and the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ben’s 36-year career in health care began in community mental health and includes 11 years in local public health and 18 years with community health centers. He holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Mr. Money recently completed a certificate in Climate Change and Health from the Yale University School of Public Health.
Barbara Paulson
Barbara Paulson
Director of Children and Youth Services
Department of Behavioral Health
Barbara Paulson is the DC Department of Behavioral Health Deputy Director, Child and Youth Services. She is a seasoned behavioral health clinician with over 30 years of experience providing direct services to children, adolescents and their families. This includes delivering care as a private practitioner.
Barbara has held a variety of senior leadership positions. She served as the site director for Family Services in NW Ohio, Program Deputy Director for Family and Child Services of Washington, D.C. and as Clinical Program Administrator for Prevention and Early Intervention at the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health. During her tenure at the Department, she led the School-based Mental Health Program and developed the Healthy Futures program, the early childhood mental health program which now currently operates in over 60 locations.
She is nationally recognized for her expertise in school mental health programs and policies, early childhood mental health consultation and education and substance use prevention. Barbara has presented at numerous national conferences on the Healthy Futures early childhood mental health consultation program and school mental health. She has provided numerous additional trainings and workshops for educators, clinicians, and community based providers.
Barbara is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in the District, and an LCSW in Maryland. Barbara received her Bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in Child and Family Community Services and her Master’s degree in Social Science Administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Steve Pearson
Steve Pearson
Founder and President
Institute for Clinical and Economic Review
Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc is the Founder and President of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent non-profit organization that evaluates the evidence on the value of medical tests, treatments, and delivery system innovations to encourage collaborative efforts to improve patient care and control costs. Dr. Pearson is also a Lecturer in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Previously, he has served as a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Bioethics at the NIH, a Special Advisor on Technology and Coverage Policy at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Vice Chair of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MedCAC). His publications include over 125 peer-reviewed articles and commentaries on the role of evidence in the health care system, and the book No Margin, No Mission: Health Care Organizations and the Quest for Ethical Excellence, published by Oxford University Press.
Michelle Mello is Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and Professor of Medicine in the Center for Health Policy/Primary Care and Outcomes Research in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She conducts empirical research into issues at the intersection of law, ethics, and health policy. She is the author of more than 200 articles on medical liability, public health law, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, biomedical research ethics and governance, health information privacy, and other topics. The recipient of a number of awards for her research, Dr. Mello was elected to the National Academy of Medicine at the age of 40. From 2000 to 2014, she was a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she directed the School’s Program in Law and Public Health. She holds a J.D. from the Yale Law School, a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.Phil. from Oxford University, where she was a Marshall Scholar.
Trish Riley, Executive Director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, built that organization as CEO from 1988-2003. She led Maine’s Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance, and was Federal liaison during the ACA deliberations. Riley held appointive positions under five Maine governors. She served on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and was a member of MACPAC, an Institute of Medicine’s Subcommittee and served on the Board of the NCQA.
Pam MacEwan
Pam MacEwan
Chief Executive Officer
Washington Health Benefit Exchange
Pam MacEwan is the Chief Executive Officer for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. Prior to joining the leadership team at HBE, Pam served as Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Governance for Group Health Cooperative. She directed Medicare and Medicaid program performance and strategy, government relations, public policy, communications, and consumer governance serving on Group Health’s leadership team for 16 years. Previously Pam served as a Commissioner with the Washington Health Services Commission implementing the Health Services Act. She worked with a broad coalition to pass health reform legislation. Pam has served on several health policy initiatives in the public and private sector, chairing the Association of Washington Health Plans, serving on the Washington State Hospital policy committee, the King County Health Action Plan, and the Children’s Health Initiative. She holds an MAT in history from Brown University and a BA in economics from The Evergreen State College.
Todd Landry
Todd Landry
Director
Office of Child and Family Services, Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Todd A. Landry is the Director of the Office of Child & Family Services for the State of Maine. Dr. Landry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He earned his Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, in 2018. Landry most recently was chief executive officer of Lena Pope in Fort Worth, Texas, a nonprofit that serves children and families with an array of prevention and early intervention services, including childcare, public education, mental health counseling, and juvenile justice. He previously served as director of Nebraska’s Division of Child and Family Services and sits on national boards, including the Child Welfare League of America.
Molly Voris
Molly Voris
Senior Policy Advisor for Public Health and Health Care
Office of Governor Jay Inslee
Molly Voris (pronouns she/her) is the Senior Policy Advisor for Public Health and Health Care for Washington Governor Jay Inslee. In this role, she leads policy development and advises the Governor on health care issues, including advising the Governor on COVID-19 policy since the beginning of the pandemic.
Prior to her role in the Governor’s Office, she served as the Chief Policy Officer for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange for nine years. Molly previously worked at the National Governors Association on state health insurance coverage issues when the ACA was enacted, and at the Kaiser Family Foundation on Medicare issues when Medicare Part D was enacted.
Molly has an M.P.H. from George Washington University and bachelor degrees in political science and Spanish from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. She lives in Olympia, Washington with her spouse, three kids and their dog.
John Straus
John Straus
Founding Director
Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program
Dr. Straus is a primary care pediatrician and the founding director of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP). Begun in 2004, MCPAP was the first statewide program designed to address the shortage of child psychiatrists. Dr. Straus was responsible for the expansion of MCPAP to include MCPAP for Moms to address perinatal depression, mental illness, and substance use. MCPAP is the model for the implementation of access programs in 38 other states and for the federal legislation in the 21st Century Cures Act which led to the 21 state pediatric HRSA grants and 7 state maternal HRSA grants. He is president of the National Network of Child Psychiatry Access Programs, a non-profit dedicated to providing technical assistance and support to child psychiatry access programs. In 2019, Dr. Straus designed the Massachusetts Consultation Service for Treatment of Addiction and Pain (MCSTAP) to assist adult PCPs with their patients with SUD and chronic pain issues.
Rep. Drew Gattine is in his fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives. He is House Chair of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee and previously chaired the Health and Human Services Committee.
Rep. Gattine has over 25 years of experience in implementing and operating programs designed to deliver more effective and efficient health care. He is nationally known on the topic of program integrity and has presented at numerous national conferences on this subject. He is also a former state assistant attorney general.
Rep. Gattine is passionate about helping vulnerable people access high quality health care and live better lives. His service has been recognized by organizations such as AARP, Disability Rights Maine, Maine Council on Aging, Maine People’s Alliance, Cancer Action Network Maine and The Maine Primary Care Association.
Rep. Gattine lives on a small family farm in Westbrook with his wife, Elizabeth. They have two children and a bunch of animals.
Ana Novais
Ana Novais
Deputy Director of Health
Rhode Island Department of Health
Ana Novais holds a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, UCLN, Belgium, and is a graduate of the Northeastern Public Health Leadership Institute, University at Albany, and Leadership RI. Ana has worked in public health for more than 30 years, including 5 years in Cabo Verde, 5 years in Portugal, and 23 years in the US.
Ana has worked for the Rhode Island Department of Health since 1998, first as a children’s health Education and Outreach Coordinator and later as Chief of the Office of Minority Health and Director of the Division of Community, Family Health, and Equity. In this role, Ana led the department’s efforts to develop and implement a framework for achieving health equity at the state and local levels through Rhode Island’s “Health Equity Zones” initiative.
In her current role as Deputy Director, Ana is charged with implementing the Department’s strategic priorities across all divisions and assuring the alignment of departmental resources and operations with these priorities.
Melissa Jordan
Melissa Jordan
Interim Division Director
Florida Department of Health
Melissa Jordan has worked at the Florida Department of Health, primarily in the field of applied epidemiology, since 2003. Since November of 2019, Melissa has served as the Interim Division Director of Community Health Promotion, managing an office of approximately 300 public health professionals and an annual budget of approximately $1 billion in state and federal funding. In this role, she is responsible for a wide range of health promotion activities including tobacco and chronic disease prevention, family health services, and WIC. She is leading Florida’s public health efforts to improve drug overdose surveillance and implement innovative prevention strategies.
Karl Fernstrom
Karl Fernstrom
Manager, Health Data Services Center
Minnesota Department of Health
Karl Fernstrom, Manager of the Health Care Data Service Center in the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota Department of Health: Karl Fernstrom leads the operational efforts for the acquisition and maintenance of health care administrative data for the Minnesota Department of Health which includes the MN APCD, MN HDD, and CMS data streams. In this role he also oversees the creation and release of MN APCD Public Use Files, collaborates with the Health Services Research unit on emerging research questions and policy issues relevant to health care research and health reform within the state. His background is in chronic disease epidemiology with areas of focus on conducting research using electronic health record and administrative data.
Julie Evers
Julie Evers
Medicaid Health Systems Administrator, Bureau of Long Term Services and Supports
Ohio Department of Medicaid
Julie has 30 years of experience in long term care policy with the Ohio Department of Medicaid. Her policy experience includes long term care facilities, home health, reimbursement and electronic visit verification. Recently she has been focused on issues facing long term care facilities as they address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vinita Bahl
Vinita Bahl
VP of Data Analytics
Center for Improving Value in Health Care
Vinita is Vice President of Data and Analytics at CIVHC and has decades of experience directing analytical work at a variety of health care organizations. Prior to joining CIVHC in 2019, Vinita served as Director of Performance Assessment & Clinical Effectiveness at the University of Michigan Health System. Vinita has expertise in the design and development of performance measurement systems, development of analytic capabilities to respond to new payment and care delivery models, analysis to drive performance improvement, and design of public reports. She holds Masters of Public Policy and Doctor of Dental Medicine degrees from Harvard University.
Michelle Alletto
Michelle Alletto
Chief Program and Services Officer
Texas Health and Human Services
Michelle Alletto serves as the Texas Health and Human Services Chief Program and Services Officer. She provides oversight to the programs that make up the full Texas HHS medical and social service array including Medicaid, food assistance and women’s health programs, residential care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and behavioral health services.
Michelle has over a decade of experience working in public health and management. Recently, she worked with the Milbank Memorial Fund, advising a multi-state collaborative on Medicaid long-term services reform. She previously served as deputy secretary for the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), the deputy director for the LDH Birth Outcomes Initiative, and the assistant director for public policy at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs in Washington, D.C.
Alletto holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
Katie Wunderlich
Katie Wunderlich
Executive Director
Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission
Katie Wunderlich began her tenure as Executive Director of the Health Services Cost Review Commission in September 2018. In that role, she has lead the Commission through the transition from the hospital-based All-Payer Model to the Total Cost of Care Model, which focuses on hospital and non-hospital system transformation to enhance patient care, improve health, and lower costs. In order to successfully transform the delivery system, the new Total Cost of Care Model gives the State the flexibility to tailor initiatives to the Maryland health care context, encourages providers to drive health care innovation, and provides new tools and resources for primary care clinicians to better meet the needs of patients with complex and chronic conditions and help Marylanders achieve better health status overall. Previously, Ms. Wunderlich was the Principal Deputy Director at HSCRC overseeing the Center for Provider Alignment and Engagement that works with hospitals, physicians and other health care providers in partnership with patients to achieve the goals of the new model and transform healthcare delivery. Before joining the HSCRC in 2016, Ms. Wunderlich was a Deputy Legislative Officer in Governor Hogan’s Legislative Office. She also served as Director of Government Relations for the Maryland Hospital Association and as a budget analyst for the General Assembly’s Legislative Services department. She has a Masters in Public Policy from George Washington University.
Julia Tremaroli
Julia Tremaroli
Data Intake Analyst
Center for Improving Value in Health Care
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Julia Tremaroli has worked as the data intake analyst for the CO APCD at the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) for over two years. Day-to-day, she engages data submitters to ensure their submissions to the CO APCD are timely, accurate, and of high-quality. She also works as an analyst on several projects that utilize data from the CO ACPD, including the support for HB19-1174 Surprise Medical Billing legislation. Julia is driven by the goal of achieving the Triple Aim: lower costs, improved quality, and healthier people.
Julia holds a degree from the University of Denver in Business Information and Analytics.
Thomas Smith
Thomas Smith
Chief Medical Officer/ Medical Director
Division of Managed Care, New York State Office of Mental Health.
Dr. Smith is Chief Medical Officer, New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH); Co-Director, NYS OMH Center for Behavioral Health Integrated Performance Measurement, and Special Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. He oversees clinical and quality aspects of the New York State public mental health system with a focus on improving access to prevention, recovery and rehabilitation services for persons with serious mental illness (SMI). He is the recipient of numerous NIMH and foundation grants for studies of engagement strategies for persons with SMI, services for persons with first episode psychosis, and care management approaches for high-need persons with SMI.
Dr. Smith earned his M.D. at Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed his psychiatry residency at the University of Chicago before coming to New York where he has had extensive experience as a clinician, hospital administrator, and researcher, initially at Weill Cornell from 1989 – 2001. He moved to Columbia in 2001 and in 2008, joined the behavioral health services research division at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Smith participated in the design and implementation of New York State’s behavioral health Medicaid Managed Care redesign and has played a lead role in OMH programs that support population health monitoring for engagement in care and adverse events. He also oversees NYS OMH mental health parity enforcement efforts as well as initiatives to develop system level quality and performance measures.
David Seltz
David Seltz
Executive Director
Massachusetts Health Policy Commission
David Seltz is the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. Prior to this role, Mr. Seltz was the Special Advisor on health care for Governor Deval Patrick (MA) and Senate President Therese Murray. Through these positions, he advised the passage of historic health care access reform legislation in 2006, a forerunner to the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Subsequently, he worked on landmark cost containment legislation in MA, which has also become a model of success for many states. Mr. Seltz is a 2003 graduate of Boston College and originally from Minnesota. He was a recipient of Modern HealthCare’s 2015 Up and Comer Award and serves as a member of the Executive Committee to the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP).
Erinn Sanstead researches, develops, and evaluates procedures and strategies to produce Minnesota All Payer Claims Database Public Use Files (PUFs). In this role, she provides technical assistance on appropriate uses of administrative health care claims data and conducts data validation to assess PUF validity, completeness, and security. Her background is in infectious disease epidemiology with experience in decision modeling and cost effectiveness analyses.
Rachel Sachs is an Associate Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research explores the interaction of intellectual property law, food and drug regulation, and health law. Her scholarship has appeared in journals including the Harvard Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. Sachs was previously an Academic Fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics and a Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School.
Gail Propsom
Gail Propsom
Chief
Quality Management and Special Initiatives Section, Wisconsin Department of Human Services
Gail Propsom has worked for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in a policy capacity for almost 30 years, developing and implementing policy on such varied issues as welfare reform, child support, employment and training, juvenile justice and child welfare. Since 2001, she has worked on long term support policy, including Olmstead implementation, Real Choice Systems Change Grants and Money Follows the Person. She currently manages a Section that oversees program quality, data analytics and several special projects, including implementation of the Home and Community-Based Services Settings rule, Money Follows the Person, housing issues for people with long-term care needs and efforts to support tribal involvement in long-term care.
Norman Oliver
Norman Oliver
Virginia State Health
Commissioner State of Virginia
Dr. Oliver is the State Health Commissioner at the Virginia Department of Health. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Oliver served as the Deputy Commissioner for Population Health for VDH. Before accepting the Deputy Commissioner position, he was the Walter M. Seward Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Dr. Oliver has a long record of accomplishments in research and community health work, regarding health inequities. Most recently, his research interests have focused on the area of improving our understanding of the role of racial discrimination, bias, and prejudice in establishing and maintaining these health inequities and the understanding of the interplay between race and socioeconomic position in these disparities.
Dr. Oliver attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University, where he also obtained his Masters degree in medical anthropology. He trained in family medicine at Case, and he then practiced broad-spectrum family medicine in rural Alaska for 2 years before joining the UVA Department of Family Medicine in 1998.
René Mollow
René Mollow
Deputy Director, Health Care Benefits and Eligibility
California Department of Health Care Services
René has been with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) since 1995. In the Medi-Cal program, she serves as the Deputy Director for Health Care Benefits and Eligibility (HCBE). She provides leadership for benefit and eligibility policy planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of health care services and delivery systems under Medi-Cal and for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). HCBE is comprised of five divisions and one office: Benefits, Eligibility, Pharmacy Benefits, Primary and Rural Indian Health, Dental, and the Office of Family Planning. René works to ensure that policies, procedures, and related activities in HCBE conform to applicable state and federal policies, statutes and regulations. She assists the Directorate, Administration and State Legislature in determining program direction consistent with legislative intent and consults with the Director and State Medicaid Director on issues of significant policy impact involving both Medi-Cal and CHIP. René has played a major role in policy planning, development, and implementation on matters pertaining to health care reform implementation and coverage expansions for children and young adults under Medi-Cal.
Mary McIntyre
Mary McIntyre
Chief Medical Officer
Alabama Department of Public Health
Mary G. McIntyre, M.D., M.P.H., SSBB is Chief Medical Officer for the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). Dr. McIntyre received her B.S. in biology from Winston Salem State University in Winston Salem, NC. She earned her medical degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville and served as resident physician in Internal Medicine at the George Hubbard Hospital in Nashville, TN. She obtained a master’s of public health in Health Care Organization and Policy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She studied Lean and Six Sigma at Villanova University from 2010-2011. She is board certified in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine. She joined ADPH in January 2011, and served as Assistant State Health Officer for Disease Control and Prevention and State Epidemiologist before taking her current position. Prior to beginning her public health career, she served in various roles at the Alabama Medicaid Agency for 14 years. She provided primary care for 11 years before joining the state. She is a member of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Alabama Public Health Association (Alpha), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA). She is most proud of being a wife and mother to four amazing adults and a grandmother to three.
Dena Stoner
Dena Stoner
Senior Policy Advisor
Department of State Health Services
Dena Stoner, Director of Innovation Strategy for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities / Behavioral Health Division, has over 40 years of policy, design and implementation experience, including long term services, acute medical care, managed healthcare and behavioral health. She currently concentrates on behavioral health, directing research and demonstration projects and making systemic changes to the state’s Medicaid program. Her work has been featured in peer-reviewed publications. Some of her current projects include the state’s Money Follows the Person behavioral health pilot and a randomized trial of self-direction for adults with serious mental illness. She also chairs the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors’ Finance Policy Division, serves on the National Research Institute’s Board of Directors, is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) and chairs NASHP’s Long Term and Chronic Care Committee.
Jason McGill
Jason McGill
Assistant Director, Medicaid Program Operations & Integrity
Washington State Health Care Authority
Jason serves the state through public leadership for our Medicaid program, including joint stewardship of the program key elements such as Medicaid managed care oversight and program integrity. Working across divisions, he is leading managed care strategic planning and working on establishing performance metrics along with other major tasks of managing this large program. He previously served two Governors for Washington state as senior health policy advisor. He led the Governor’s health and related strategic vision, goals and policy initiatives, including long term care. His service has spanned critical times during the deep recession to implementing the Affordable Care Act that has resulted in expanded Medicaid and exchange health coverage to over 800,000 people in Washington. He also currently serves on the NASHP board and a member of the long term care committee.
Mike McCormick
Mike McCormick
Aging & People with Disabilities Interim Director
Oregon Department of Human Services
With more than two decades of state service, and a majority of those with the Department of Human Services, Mike McCormick has extensive knowledge of the agency’s program structure, client needs and policy guidelines.
Mike served as the Deputy Director of the Aging and People with Disabilities program in 2012 and from December 2015 to October 2019, when he assumed the Interim Director position. Mike was a key leader in securing approval for Oregon’s 1915(K) State Plan Option. He then used these tools to dramatically expand the percentage of individuals receiving services in their own home.
Prior to his work with Aging and People with Disabilities, Mike led the Department’s Office of Rates, Contracting and Research. During his tenure, Mike provided leadership on financial management, effective use of data in administering programs and establishing fair, competitive rates for long-term care providers.
During his leadership role for the Provider Audit Section, Mike adopted a data analytics approach towards assessing risk of errors, fraud and abuse in Oregon Health Plan’s medical programs. Under Mike’s leadership, millions of tax dollars were recovered and ultimately were used to fund needed services for Oregonians.
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Mike graduated from University of Oregon with a BS in Business Administration.
Patti Killingsworth is an Assistant Commissioner for TennCare and the Chief of Long-Term Services & Supports (LTSS). She is a nationally recognized leader and highly sought-after expert and adviser in home and community-based services (HCBS), managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS), value-based purchasing for LTSS, and initiatives to improve care for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. She has worked in Medicaid programs for over two decades, leading system redesign initiatives in multiple states. Her commitment is to transforming LTSS systems to better meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities and their families, promoting the development and expansion of cost-effective HCBS options, and ensuring that that the voice and perspective of older adults, people with disabilities, family members, and other key stakeholders is brought to bear in policy and program decision-making processes.
Ashley Harrell
Ashley Harrell
Senior Program Advisor
Department of Medical Assistance Services, Virginia
Ashley Harrell is the Senior Program Advisor in the Behavioral Health Division at the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services. Ashley’s role in the Virginia Medicaid agency in most recent years was leading the implementation of the transformation of the Medicaid Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment services – “Addiction and Recovery Treatment Services or ARTS”. ARTS has been recognized nationally as the model for States implementing SUD Demonstration Waivers. Ashley is also the Project Director for Virginia’s Section 1003 Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act. Virginia is one of fifteen states awarded the Grant to increase SUD treatment and recovery provider capacity. Prior to this, Ashley managed the Maternal and Child Health Division at the Medicaid agency to improve access to and enhance services for women and children eligible for Medicaid. Ashley is licensed in Clinical Social Work in Virginia, with degrees both in Master’s and Bachelor’s in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University.
Jeffrey Hayden
Jeffrey Hayden
Senator
State of Minnesota
Sessions:
Wednesday Plenary: Legislatures Confront the Pandemic’s Aftershock – High Unemployment, Less Revenue, and Ongoing Health Threats
Senator Jeff Hayden was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2011 after serving in the state House of Representatives for four years. Sen. Hayden is the ranking DFL member on the Senate Human Services Reform committee; he also serves on the Commerce, Health and Human Services, and Finance committees. Hayden was elected by his peers as Assistant DFL Leader in 2016.
Senator Hayden has advocated for progressive policies in his community for decades and has been at the forefront of economic justice and health care issues throughout his legislative career. He authored the statewide minimum wage increase and helped pass a guaranteed school lunch program for all children regardless of their families’ ability to pay. He has pushed for enacting a single-payer health care system to expand access to affordable health care and has continually advocated for increased funding of Child Care Assistance Programs. He also authored the African American Family Preservation Act, which would protect the best interests of children and promote the stability and security of African American families. In 2015, Sen. Hayden co-chaired the Senate’s first Select Committee on Disparities and Opportunities which has invested more than $100 million into communities of color. And after more than 30 years, Senator Hayden was successful in securing the first increase in the Minnesota Family Investment Program since 1986. In 2019, Jeff authored and successfully passed legislation that removes certain racial restrictive covenants from housing deeds in the Twin Cities.
Joe Flores
Joe Flores
Deputy Secretary of Finance
Virginia Office of the Governor
Joe was appointed Deputy Secretary of Finance in January 2018. He provides guidance to the Governor and Secretary of Finance on a range of fiscal policy issues especially those related to Health and Human Resources (HHR). Joe is currently heading up efforts to identify, monitor, track, and provide counsel on expenditures from federal stimulus bills to address the impact of COVID-19 in Virginia. He helped lead Governor Northam’s successful Medicaid expansion efforts that included strategic planning, policy design, fiscal analysis, stakeholder engagement, legislative negotiations, and communications. Joe previously served as Deputy Secretary of HHR for Governor Terry McAuliffe.
For two decades, Joe was a fiscal analyst serving legislators in Texas, Minnesota, and Virginia on the breadth of fiscal policy issues in health and human resources. As a non-partisan legislative fiscal analyst, he was a resource to lawmakers, agency officials, advocacy groups, the media, and the public on issues related to health care, social services, public health, behavioral health, developmental disabilities, children and adult services.
Sarah Emond
Sarah Emond
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Institute for Clinical and Economic Review
With over 20 years of experience in the business and policy of health care, Sarah leads the strategic operations of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a leading non-profit health policy research organization, as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to joining ICER, Sarah spent six years in the corporate communications and investor relations department at a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, and several years with a health care communications firm. Sarah began her career in clinical research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Sarah holds a Master of Public Policy degree with a concentration in health policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University and received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Smith College. Sarah speaks frequently at national conferences on the topics of prescription drug pricing policy, comparative effectiveness research, and value-based health care.
Stacie Dusetzina
Stacie Dusetzina
Professor
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Stacie Dusetzina is an Associate Professor of Health Policy and Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She is a health services researcher focusing on the intersection between health policy, epidemiology, and economics related to prescription drugs. She received her PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 2010 and post-doctoral training at the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School in 2012.
Dr. Dusetzina’s work focuses on prescription drug prices and affordability for consumers, with a special focus on high-priced or complex drugs. Her body of work has led to her participation in the President’s Cancer Panel’s workshops on Access to Cancer Drugs, her appointment to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee on Ensuring Patient Access to Affordable Drugs, and testifying before the Senate Aging Committee on the same topic in 2019.
Shannon Dowler
Shannon Dowler
Chief Medical Officer
North Carolina Medicaid, Division of Health Benefits, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Dowler joined NC DHHS as the Chief Medical Officer for North Carolina Medicaid in 2019. Her past experience with Medicaid includes chairing the Physician Advisory Group for Medicaid (an independent legislated non-profit whose sole purpose is advising Medicaid on clinical policy) for many years. In the COVID pandemic she has led efforts across DHHS related to Telehealth and Health Equity with a focus on increasing testing in Historically Marginalized Populations.
Dr. Dowler obtained her medical degree from East Carolina (Brody) School of Medicine and completed a Family Medicine Residency and Fellowship in Asheville at MAHEC. She has spent her career in the service of non-profits including: the local health department providing full spectrum care (OB without deliveries) as well as a long standing role in the STD clinic, as CMO for a large FQHC in WNC, and most recently served as Associate Chief Quality Officer and Chief of Community Medicine for Mission Health System.
Steven Costantino
Steven Costantino
Director of Healthcare Reform and Financing
Delaware Health and Social Services
Steven M. Costantino is currently the Director of Health Care Reform for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. His emphases is on driving payment and delivery transformation to more value-based and integrative care models across multiple payers of services. He is actively engaged in the development and implementation of a health care quality and cost benchmark for the State of Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. He was the lead on approval of a 1332 waiver application to CMS for reinsurance. He is also actively involved in the development of an MCO/ACO application process for Medicaid.
As Commissioner and of the Department of Vermont Health Access and Medicaid Director (2015-2017), he provided leadership and strategy for many of Vermont’s expansive Health Care Reform
As Secretary of the Executive Office of Health & Human Services (2011-2015), he applied his extensive experience in government and a variety of fields relating to health and human services to improve the quality of life of Rhode Island residents.
He was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1995 to 2010. He was appointed to the House Committee on Finance in 1999 and rose to the position of Chairman in 2004, retaining that leadership position for seven years.
He was Executive Director of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association of RI from 1986 to 1995.
He is a graduate of Dartmouth College obtaining a Masters in Health Care Delivery Science, class of 2020.
Eileen Cody
Eileen Cody
State Representative,
Washington’s 34th District Washington State House of Representatives
Representative Eileen Cody was raised on her family’s farm in Iowa. After graduating from high school, Eileen earned an Associate’s degree in nursing from the College of Saint Mary and a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Creighton University.
Eileen recently retired after working at Kaiser Permanente (formerly Group Health Cooperative) in Seattle for the past forty years. In addition to her work at Kaiser Permanente, Eileen is a founding member of District 1199 NW/SEIU Hospital and Health Care Employees Union.
First appointed and subsequently retained to the House of Representatives in 1994, Eileen has dedicated her legislative career to achieving affordable, quality healthcare for all residents of Washington state. Eileen currently serves as chair of the House Health Care and Wellness committee. Most recently, Eileen was instrumental in the creation and passage of Cascade Care, Washington state’s public option plan.
Emma Chacon
Emma Chacon
Operations Director
Division of Medicaid and Health Financing, Utah Department of Health
Emma Chacon is the Operations Director with the Division of Medicaid and Health Financing, Utah Department of Health. This position serves as a deputy to the State Medicaid Director. In her role, Ms. Chacon oversees, all aspects of Utah’s Medicaid and CHIP programs including the claims processing, program integrity, coverage and reimbursement policy, eligibility policy, managed care, and long term services and supports.
Prior to her current position, Ms. Chacon served as an Assistant Director for the Division and as the Director of the Bureau of Managed Health Care. In this position she was responsible for the administration of managed health care for physical, behavioral and dental health for both Medicaid and CHIP for the State of Utah. During her tenure the State of Utah implemented Medicaid reform through the creation of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations. She is also part of Utah’s team to implement Medicaid expansion.
Prior to joining the Department of Health in 2005, Ms. Chacon served as the Director of the Office of Recovery Services, Utah Department of Human Services which is the Child Support Enforcement agency for the state of Utah. Ms. Chacon served in this capacity for 12 of her 29 years with the Utah Department of Human Services.
Dean Rosen has played a leading role in developing and advancing health policy for more than 20 years. He has a deep understanding of America’s complex health care system and an equally intimate knowledge of politics and process. A partner at Mehlman Castagnetti, Dean joined the firm to direct its health care practice in September 2005 after five years as the chief health care advisor to Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist (R-TN). Dean has held senior positions in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, serving in the Congressional Leadership as well as on key health care committees. He also served in several senior positions with the Health Insurance Association of America. He has helped shepherd through Congress major legislation involving a variety of policy areas, including Medicaid and Medicare reform, FDA regulation, health insurance coverage and health
care quality. Throughout his career, he has forged strong working relationships with key decision-makers on both sides of the political aisle in Congress and within the broader health policy community.
Chris Jennings
Chris Jennings
Founder and President
Jennings Policy Strategies Inc.
Chris Jennings is a decades-long health policy veteran of the White House, the Congress and the private sector. He served President Obama as Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy and Coordinator of Health Reform, and in a similar capacity in the Clinton White House for nearly eight years. In his decade with the U.S. Senate, he served as the Deputy Director of the Special Committee on Aging for three Senators (Glenn, Pryor, and Melcher). He also served in a major role for the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care. Mr. Jennings has advised eight Presidential campaigns, the 2008, 2016 and 2020 Democratic Platform Drafting Committees, and multiple gubernatorial and Senate candidates. Jennings Policy Strategies (JPS) is a nationally respected health care consulting firm committed to assisting foundations, purchasers, health systems, and aligned stakeholders develop policies to ensure higher quality, more affordable and sustainable health care.
Richard Figueroa
Richard Figueroa
Deputy Cabinet Secretary
Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom
Richard Figueroa is a Deputy Cabinet Secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom where he is responsible for health and human services issues. He was previously the Director of Prevention and the Affordable Care Act for The California Endowment. He has served twice previously in the California Governor’s Office, where he was a Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Health Care Advisor for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Deputy Legislative Secretary for Governor Davis where he was responsible for health care, human services and health insurance issues.
Erika Ferguson
Erika Ferguson
Director of the Office of Healthy Opportunities
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Erika Ferguson serves as the Director of the Office of Healthy Opportunities for the NC Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she leads the Department’s comprehensive strategy to effectively deliver health, not just health care by addressing the medical and non-medical drivers of health including housing, food, transportation and interpersonal safety. Erika started her career managing a homeless shelter in the Mississippi Delta and has since served in a variety of capacities across health care and human services including positions at Duke University and the World Health Organization. Erika holds a BS in Public Health from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and Duke University and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Chris DeMars
Chris DeMars
Transformation Center Director
Oregon Health Authority Transformation Center
Chris DeMars, MPH, is the Director of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Transformation Center and the Deputy Director of OHA’s Delivery System Innovation Office. In addition, she plays a lead role in the agency’s value-based payment and social determinants of health work. Before joining the OHA in 2013, Chris spent eight years as a senior program officer at the Northwest Health Foundation, where she managed the foundation’s health care reform grant making. Prior to working for the foundation, Chris spent six years as a senior health policy analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, contributing to numerous reports for Congress on Medicaid, Medicare and private health insurance payment policy. Chris has also held positions at Kaiser Permanente Northwest and health-policy consulting firms, including Health Management Associates, and she began her career as a policy analyst intern at Indiana’s Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning. Chris holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Michigan.
Ms. Dickerson has over 30 years of experience in the field of public health and strategic policy development. Currently, she serves as Bureau Chief for Long-Term Services and Supports in the Ohio Department of Medicaid since 2017. Her primary focus is to develop and implement state Medicaid policies in the areas of nursing and intermediate care facilities, home and community-based waivers, maternal and child health and developmental disabilities. Ms. Dickerson also coordinates with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and interpret federal guidelines, draft legislative language and perform comparative analysis to determine the most appropriate delivery of services for individuals and families. Previously, she was Section Chief for Interagency Policy in the Ohio Department of Medicaid 2011-2017, Project Manager for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services 2010-2011; Chief of Human Resources for the Ohio Office of Budget and Management 2008-2010; Assistant Director for the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation from 2003-2008 and held various management positions within the Ohio Department of Health 1990-2003; and she also worked as a contract administrator with the federal government from 1988-1990. Ms. Dickerson has extensive experience in administering health services programs through collaborative partnerships with state agencies, local health departments, managed care organizations, hospitals, pharmacies and community-based organizations. In addition, she has been instrumental in creating non-traditional health education programs for under-served populations and has been nationally recognized for her statewide leadership in the implementation of efforts in high-risk communities. Ms. Dickerson holds a Masters degree in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Education from Otterbein University, Westerville, Ohio.
Marie Ganim
Marie Ganim
Health Insurance Commissioner
State of Rhode Island
Marie Ganim, Ph.D., is the Health Insurance Commissioner for the State of Rhode Island. In this role, she ensures the solvency of health insurers, protects consumers, encourages the fair treatment of providers, and works to improve health care quality, accessibility, and affordability. The Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner was created in 2005 to oversee both health insurance regulation and health policy for the state. Addressing the cost of health care through alternative payment and delivery models has been the focus of the Office’s reform agenda.
Cindy Gillespie
Cindy Gillespie
Secretary Arkansas Department of Human Services
State of Arkansas
Cindy Gillespie was appointed secretary of the Arkansas Department of Human Services by Governor Asa Hutchinson in March of 2016. She oversees Medicaid, child welfare, juvenile justice and other programs that support the well-being of the state’s most vulnerable populations. Her previous career includes serving as a principal at the multinational law firm Dentons where she led the Health Policy and Health Insurance Exchange Teams, as an advisor to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on health policy and federal programs, and as senior management for both the Salt Lake and Atlanta Olympic Games.
Jean is a Registered Nurse that has over 30 years in hospital, home care and hospice administration. She holds a masters of science degree in nursing as a clinical nurse specialist and masters degree in hospital administration. She is currently completing her 20th year in the South Dakota State Legislature serving in both House and Senate. She has served on Health and Human Services Committee, chairing for four years in the Senate, Judiciary Committee and Local Government. She has served ten years on Joint Appropriations Committee serving as the Senate Chair. She currently is Vice Chair of House Appropriations and Chair of the Interim Rules Committee. She is a member of the RSG Steering Committee and serves on the Executive Committee for NCSL. She is a small business owner/operator of a Sports Bar and a Fitness Center and operates a small farm operation. She is married and has four children and six grandchildren.
Heather Korbulic
Heather Korbulic
Executive Director
Silver State Health Insurance Exchange
Heather Korbulic is the Executive Director of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, Nevada’s state agency that runs and operates the online health insurance marketplace known as Nevada Health Link. Heather has over a decade of experience in human service specifically related to health care policy. She specializes in government affairs, public relations, coordinated project management and strategic planning. Under Heather’s direction the Nevada Exchange was the first state to successfully transition functionality away from the platform to operate as a fully autonomous state based exchange. Heather has a degree from the University of Oregon and is a Certified Public Manager.
Kevin Patterson
Kevin Patterson
Chief Executive Officer
Connect for Health Colorado
Kevin Patterson has served as Chief Executive Officer of Connect for Health Colorado since April of 2015. He previously served as chief administrative officer and interim chief of staff to Gov. John Hickenlooper and has an extensive history of public service. Kevin brings a strong understanding of local, state, and federal government and stakeholder engagement to this role. For his time at Connect for Health Colorado, Kevin has been focused on improving the customer experience so they can focus on health insurance with tax credits implications. Kevin has held many senior leadership roles for the city and county of Denver. He was elected to the Denver Board of Education in 2001 and 2005. Kevin graduated with a B.A. in Teaching from Sam Houston State University and holds both a Master’s of Public Administration and a Master’s of Urban Regional Planning from the University of Colorado at Denver. Kevin is known as a collaborative non-partisan problem solver for Colorado issues.
Jennifer Sullivan
Jennifer Sullivan
Secretary
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
Jennifer Sullivan, M.D., M.P.H. was appointed as Secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration by Governor Eric J. Holcomb effective January 9, 2017. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Deputy State Health Commissioner and Director for Health Outcomes at the Indiana State Department of Health. Dr. Sullivan is currently a Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. She served as the Division Chief for Pediatric Emergency Medicine and was the Program Director for the Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics Residency from 2007-2015. Dr. Sullivan continues to work clinically in the Riley Hospital for Children Emergency Department.
She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Houston Honors College and her Masters in Public Health at the Richard Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University. She earned her Medical Doctorate at Indiana University School of Medicine and is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics.
Dr. Sullivan is dedicated to building effective and efficient delivery of health care and social services to Hoosiers. She takes a public health approach to policy decisions and is committed to strategic alignment across government and the private sector to improve health outcomes and fill unmet social needs. She was recognized in 2019 as the recipient of the APHSA Friedman Health and Human Services Impact Award and is a 2017 Indianapolis Business Journal Woman of Influence.
FSSA is a health care and social service delivery and integration agency. The mission of FSSA is To compassionately serve our diverse community of Hoosiers by dismantling long-standing, persistent inequity through deliberate human services system improvement.
Judy Theriot
Judy Theriot
Medical Director
Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services
Judith Ann Theriot, MD, CPE, is the Medical Director for the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services and has served in that capacity since May 2019. Prior to that, she was the Commission for Children with Special Health Care Needs’ Medical Director from July 2013 through May 2019. Dr. Theriot attended medical school at the University of Louisville (UofL) then went on to complete her Pediatric residency and a chief resident year before joining the faculty at UofL. Dr. Theriot served as the director of the General Pediatrics Clinical Research Unit and prior to that as the medical director of the Children and Youth Project; a multidisciplinary primary care clinic serving the inner-city high-risk children of Louisville Kentucky. Dr. Theriot is a certified physician executive and is a professor of Pediatrics at UofL. In addition to her administrative duties with Medicaid, she continues to see patients weekly in clinic at UofL and teach pediatric residents.
Marylou Sudders
Secretary
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Marylou Sudders serves as the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, overseeing 12 agencies and MassHealth, with a combined budget of $24 billion and 22,000 public employees delivering essential services that touch the lives of 1 in 4 state residents. Since joining Governor Baker’s cabinet in January 2015, Sudders has advanced strategic policy priorities, including: restructuring MassHealth into a population-based health coverage system, reforming the child welfare system, addressing the opioid epidemic, integrating physical and behavioral health care, and strengthening community-based services. Sudders co-chairs the Governor’s Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, the Governor’s Interagency Council on Aging, and chairs the Autism Commission and the board of Massachusetts Health Connector, the state’s health insurance marketplace. Sudders has held leadership roles across the public and private sectors, including serving as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Mental Health, a non-profit CEO, and associate professor and program chair at Boston College School of Social Work, a top ten nationally-ranked program. Sudders holds a bachelor’s degree with honors and a master’s degree in social work from Boston University, and honorary doctorates from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology and Bridgewater State University. She is the recipient of many civic, social work, and professional honors.
Tim Peterson test
Speaker
Tim has over 20 years of experience implementing state government systems, including end-to-end management of the entire software development lifecycle from contract negotiations and project initiation, through implementation, certification, and post-production operations. For the past several years, Tim has serves as the project manager for Montana Program for Automating and Transforming Healthcare (MPATH) initiative. The MPATH project is replacing Montanas 33 year old legacy Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) using a modular strategy leveraging existing COTS/SaaS solutions. Tim led the development of Montanas modularity replacement strategy that resulted in the Modularity Blueprint for the replacement of the remaining legacy components supporting the Montana Healthcare Programs. Additionally, he recently led the implementation of the Departments Population Health Data Analytics module to support Montanas Medicaid program.
Mark Greenberg
Speaker
Mark Greenberg is a Senior Fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. His work focuses on immigration issues affecting children and families and implications of immigration enforcement and policy for health and human services programs and agencies.
From 2009-17, Mr. Greenberg worked at the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and was ACF Acting Assistant Secretary from 2013-17. ACF includes the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a wide range of other programs assisting low-income and vulnerable children, families and communities. Previously, Mr. Greenberg was Executive Director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy; Executive Director of the Center for American Progress’ Task Force on Poverty; Director of Policy for the Center for Law and Social Policy; and a legal services lawyer at the Western Center on Law and Poverty and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.
Marie Zimmerman oversee and lead the major functions Minnesotas Medicaid program, Medical Assistance, and its Basic Health Plan, MinnesotaCare, the program which provide health coverage to 1.2 million Minnesotans. This includes: agency-wide Medicaid policy development and implementation; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) federal relations; health care program eligibility policy and operations (state-run and county oversight); benefits policy; pharmacy benefit management; health services and dental services advisory committees; managed care contracting, provider rate-setting; purchasing strategies and delivery systems reforms; enrollee and provider customer service; provider enrollment and training; provider claims payment; and benefit recovery and program integrity functions.
Most recently Zimmerman has been working as a Vice President at Hennepin Healthcare, but prior to that she served as Minnesotas State Medicaid Director for 4 years, and several roles at DHS over the past decade that included leading the development and launch of the departments purchasing reform initiatives including direct provider contracting through the Integrated Health Partnership program, managed care organization oversight and purchasing reforms, and integrated managed care products for seniors and people with disabilities. Additionally, Zimmerman served as the Health Care Administration policy director, deputy director of managed care and payment policy division and as the budget and legislative director.
Thomas Novak
Speaker
Thomas Novak is the Medicaid Interoperability lead in the Office of Policy at ONC where he supports the advancement of Medicaid interoperability in the drafting and review of federal regulations. He is detailed part time to the CMS Medicaid Data and Systems Group where he provides direct support to State Medicaid agencies and state governments on Health Information Exchange funding and strategy.
Virginia Dize is Co-Director of the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) and Program Director at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). She has more than thirty years’ experience in Aging programs, the last 10 years focused on transportation for older adults and people with disabilities. Prior to joining the staff of n4a, she served as an Associate Director of the National Association of State Units on Aging. Ms. Dize oversees n4a’s transportation initiatives, including work on the Inclusive Coordinated Transportation Partnership project funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL) and she previously served as co-director of the National Center on Senior Transportation (NCST; 2008-2015). She has managed several rounds of demonstration grants under the NCST and NADTC. She has a Master of Science degree in Gerontology from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History from Mary Washington College.
Tara Murphy is the Deputy Director of DSRIP Statewide Investments at MassHealth. Since January 2017, she has led the design, roll out, and management of a $115 million portfolio of Statewide Investment programs aimed advancing Massachusetts efforts to transform healthcare payment and care delivery and improve health outcomes for its MassHealth population. Prior to MassHealth, Tara served as the founding Administrative Director for the Kraft Center for Community Health Leadership at Partners HealthCare, a then-new entity focused on improving access to high quality healthcare in traditionally underserved communities by strengthening the workforce in community health centers. She previously held leadership roles in global health, first at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and then at the Clinton Health Access Initiative. She has also consulted at numerous community health centers and nonprofits.
Tara is a Board member at ParentChild+, a national nonprofit that uses early education and home visiting to help families build a brighter future for their children and themselves. She holds an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Dr. Tisha Holmes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida State University. She conducts interdisciplinary work on planning for hazards and risks in order to reduce physical and social vulnerabilities and seek ways to build resilience in vulnerable, marginalized communities. Her research also emphasizes active community participation in research, education and decision-making processes to address the present and potential impact of climatological risks.
Holmes is collaborating with researchers in FSU Geography and the Center for Climate Ocean Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) to evaluate efforts of climate change adaptation planning in US local public health agencies and their engagement with vulnerable populations through the CDC’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) program. She is also conducting research on adaptation approaches to sea level rise in Florida and developing work on climate resilience planning in the Caribbean.
Joe Bryant is currently the Health Care Policy Advisor to Governor John C. Carney (Delaware). Joe has been in his current position since 2017. During his time in the Carney Administration, Joe has successfully championed many of the Governor’s top health policy initiatives. In addition to his work in the Governor’s Office, he serves as a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard.
Joe graduated with a B.A. from Maryville College (TN) in 2008. As a senior, he successfully defended his thesis paper, “Concussions in sports: How educated are athletes about this diagnosis?” In 2012, he graduated from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, with a M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling.
Prior to his current position, Joe worked as a Constituent Relations Liaison during Rep. John Carney’s time in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was Rep. Carney’s liaison for matters concerning the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Social Security Administration. In addition, Joe has several years of experience as a professional mental health counselor.
Wilmarie González has been working for almost 14 yrs. as a PA public servant, first with the Department of Aging, and now with the Department of Human Services as a top executive collaborating with local, state and federal agencies. Wilmarie has represented the state before legislative and executive branches in strengthening advocacy systems. Wilmarie has led teams in state studies and evaluations on elder abuse, financial exploitation, and guardianship issues impacting the aging population; Wilmarie has been a featured speaker at local, state and national forums covering topics from advocacy, protection, quality strategy, performance measures, and state funded programs.
Wilmarie is leading the new MLTSS Community HealthChoices programs quality strategy impacting Medicaid and Medicare services for the dual population. It includes establishing sound quality components that include early implementation strategy, performance measures, performance improvement projects, long-term evaluation while collaborating with internal and external stakeholder engagement.
Wilmarie has served as a board member in national, state and local organizations influencing public policy, education, older adults, and the arts. Former member of the PA Supreme Court Elder Law Task Force and Advisory Council on Elder Justice in the Courts, and current member of the PA Judicial Conduct Board.
Wilmarie is a graduate of Rosemont College with a Masters in Management, and Eastern University with a Bachelors in Organizational Management.
Tom Curtis
Speaker
Tom Curtis serves as the manager of Quality Improvement and Program Development for Medicaid managed care at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). In this role, he is responsible for establishing, administering, and evaluating Michigans managed care performance monitoring, improvement, and innovation activity in Medicaid. This role includes supporting the department’s Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Payment Reform, and Behavioral/Physical Health Integration policy efforts in the Medicaid managed care program. Tom worked previously as the State Administrator for Michigan’s State Innovation Model (SIM) project, and as a Senior Quality Analyst with the MDHHS Managed Care Plan Division, where he developed performance improvement partnerships with Medicaid health plans. Tom worked for many years on local community engagement and organizing efforts before joining MDHHS.
Kierra Barnett
Speaker
Kierra S. Barnett is a PHD candidate in the College of Public Health at The Ohio State University and a Graduate Research Associate at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Kierra’s work focuses on the impact of social determinants of health (i.e. socioeconomic conditions, education, and natural, built and social environments) on racial and ethnic health disparities. Her dissertation research specifically explores John Henryism (an active coping mechanism against stressors), socio-economic status, and health disparities among Blacks.
Having joined the Kirwan Institute in 2013, Kierra has collaborated with state, county and city public health departments, as well as non-for-profit organizations, to assess health outcomes, such as infant mortality, and make policy and practice-based recommendations to address the disparities. After completing her doctoral degree, she intends to continue her scholarship to better understand health among Black populations across the socio-economic gradient.
Kierra also holds a Masters of Public Health from OSU and a Bachelors of Science in Community Health from the University of Illinois.
Chris Taylor is the Chief Inclusion Officer for the state of Minnesota. In his role, he facilitates change across the state system of government, creating more inclusive state agencies and promoting equity in state programs and services.
Taylor received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of St. Thomas and a Master’s degree from the Cooperstown Graduate Program for Museum Studies. He is currently working on a Doctorate of Education in the Organization Development and Change program at the University of St. Thomas.
Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH recently joined the AMA in April 2019 as their inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer and Vice President. Her role is to embed health equity in all the work of the AMA and to launch a Center for Health Equity.
Prior to this in 2014, Dr. Maybank became an Associate Commissioner, and later a Deputy Commissioner, and lunched the Center for Health Equity, a new division in the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene geared toward strengthening and amplifying the Health Department’s work in ending health inequities. Under her leadership, and in a short amount of time, the health department made great strides in transforming the culture and public health practice by embedding health equity in the health department’s work. This work has been recognized and adapted by other City agencies and has captured the attention of the CDC and WHO.
She also teaches medical and public health students on topics related to health inequities, public health leadership and management, physician advocacy, and community organizing health. Currently, Dr. Maybank serves as President of the Empire State Medical Association, the NYS affiliate of the National Medical Association. In 2012, she co-founded “We Are Doc McStuffins,” a movement created by African-American female physicians who are inspired by the Disney Junior character, Doc McStuffins.
Dr. Maybank holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University, an MD from Temple University School of Medicine, and an MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is a pediatrician and board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.
Dee Jones is the Executive Director of the North Carolina State Health Plan, which provides health care coverage to more than 725,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their dependents. Jones has responsibility for the day-to-day strategy and operations of the Plan, working closely with the State Treasurer and the Plan’s Board of Trustees to monitor the financial condition of the Plan, implement quality improvements and maintain cost-effective programs for Plan members.
Before joining the Plan in 2017, Jones held executive leadership roles within the State at NC Department of Health and Human Services and NC Department of Administration. In addition, her private sector senior leadership experience across strategic operations and financial roles includes 11 years with Time Warner Cable and six years at Siemens Energy & Automation.
Dee holds an M.B.A./Accounting degree from the University of Phoenix and B.A. degrees in Accounting and Business Management from NC State University.
Elisabeth Arenales has been the Senior Policy Advisor on Health for Governor Jared Polis since January 2019. Prior to working for Governor Polis, she spent twenty years as the Health Program Director for the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. CCLP is Colorado’s unrestricted legal services program and focuses on family economic security. Elisabeth is recognized as a health policy expert and has a strong track record of protecting, preserving, and expanding access to health care, particularly for lower-income Coloradans. She has helped to shepherd legislation and programs that increased coverage, reduced health access barriers and led to significant changes in the Colorado health landscape.
Lisa Beauregard is the Director of the Home and Community Based Services Policy Lab at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elders Affairs where she previously served as a research analyst. She competed a Ph.D. in Public Policy at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global States at the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2019. Previously, Dr. Beauregard received a Masters in International Political Economics from The Catholic University of America and a Bachelors of Arts, cum laude, in Political Science, from the College of the Holy Cross.
Jessica Rhoades
Speaker
Jessica Rhoades is an accomplished health care policy and advocacy leader with broad expertise and experience in Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, health insurance and payment and delivery system reform. She has served as health care policy advisor to two governors. She also served as Policy Director for the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, where she oversaw the state’s Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion and served as Montana’s State Innovation Model Design Director, resulting in Montana’s largest ever public-private value-based payment initiative. Her work in the private sector includes working in public affairs for a national health care provider covering 14 states. Most recently, Rhoades led the effort to pass Montana’s reinsurance legislation and waiver submission.
Erica Phillips
Speaker
Ms. Phillips is a business development professional with 30+ years experience helping organizations apply data to solve complex problems.
Erica joined Esri, the global leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 3 years ago as the lead on Federal Health agencies. She works with agencies such as CDC, FDA, NIH and SAMHSA and with State Health Departments applying GIS to address public health issues such as the opioid crisis and access to health care. Erica advocates the idea that Place Matters for Health and utilizes Esris technology to support innovative approaches to public health challenges.
Prior to joining Esri, Erica worked for Nielsen Claritas and VNU/Mediamark focused on developing and supporting data-driven solutions. Highlights include the work she did with the Ohio Department of Health to define food deserts and the communities impacted by them.
A native New Yorker, Ms. Phillips is a graduate of Hunter College with a BA in Economics.
Ellie Hartman, Ph.D., BCBA-D, graduated from the University of Minnesota in Educational Psychology with a concentration in special education where she taught Behavior Analysis and Classroom Management and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctorate (BCBA-D). Dr. Hartman was an evaluator for Wisconsin’s SSDI two for one pilot, Wisconsin’s Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG), and the Administration on Intellectual and Development Disabilities (AIDD)’s Partners in Employment grant, called Let’s Get to Work in Wisconsin. Dr. Hartman is currently a Senior Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute (SVRI) and is the Project Manager for Wisconsin PROMISE. As the Project Manager for Wisconsin PROMISE, Dr. Hartman, has been coordinating and leading the PROMISE inter-agency leadership and work groups, including facilitating a inter-agency Management Information System (MIS) for PROMISE program evaluation and data analysis. As a Senior Scientist at SVRI, Dr. Hartman works in close collaboration with the faculty and staff at SVRI and University of Wisconsin, Madison Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education (RPSE).
Chethan Bachireddy is the incoming Chief Medical Officer for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (Medicaid). He is a physician, researcher, and public servant dedicated to improving health for vulnerable populations. In his new role, he is engaging in efforts related to the opioid epidemic, maternal/child health, value-based payment, and the social drivers of health. Prior to coming to Virginia, he was a National Clinician Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania where his work focused on two areas: 1) improving health for populations with high rates of HIV infection, substance use disorders, mental illness, and justice involvement and 2) applying insights from behavioral economics and clinical trial design to test strategies and technologies to help form healthy habits. He hails from Deep East Texas, studied economics and neurobiology at Harvard, attended medical school at Yale, trained in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and completed a Masters in Health Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania. He is excited to learn and collaborate to improve the health and well-being of the individuals, families, and communities who call Virginia home.
Jeremy Vandehey, J.D. is the Director of the Health Policy and Analytics Division for the Oregon Health Authority, which is responsible for developing and implementing the state’s vision for health reform. His teams’ work includes policy analysis, health care cost and quality reporting, advancing evidence-based care and best practices, spreading the use of electronic health records, advancing payment reform, and purchasing health care for nearly 300,000 public employees. Before joining OHA, Jeremy served as Health Policy Advisor to Governor Kate Brown. Jeremy previously led government relations for Kaiser Permanente’s Northwest Region and served as the legislative director for OHA during the design and implementation of Oregon’s coordinated care organizations. Jeremy received his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law and his undergraduate degree in public policy and administration from Western Oregon University.
Jaime S. King is the Bion M. Gregory Chair of Business Law and a Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. She is the Associate Dean and Co-Director of the UCSF/UC HastingsConsortium on Science, Law and Health Policy, the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the UCSF/UC Hastings Master’s Program in Health Law and Policy,and the Director of the J.D. Concentration on Law and Health Sciences. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition, a multi-disciplinary web-based resource about healthcare price and competition.Professor King received the Hastings Foundation Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship in 2015 and the Best Antitrust and Mergers Article of 2017 at the American Antitrust Institute Annual Meeting with her co-author Erin Fuse Brown.Professor King has testified before Congressional committees on health insurance mergers and price transparency and currently sits on the Board of the American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. She holds a Ph.D. in Health Policy from Harvard University, a J.D. from Emory University, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.
Carissa Dougherty, LCSW, has over 18 years experience providing direct clinical practice, program management, and policy work. Ms. Dougherty previously managed an array of permanent and transitional supportive housing programs for persons with mental health and substance use issues. She has co-chaired the local homeless Continuum of Care and provided Mental Health First Aid training to hundreds of homeless service and housing providers.
Ms. Dougherty currently serves as Director in the Office of Mental Health Coordination. She leads a team of program specialists and policy analysts responsible for stakeholder engagement, system coordination, and policy initiatives. Prior to this role, she served as a Senior Advisor with a focus on coordinating services to address the housing needs for persons with IDD and behavioral health disabilities, exploring the sustainable financing options for health and housing initiatives, and promoting policies and programs that support such endeavors.
With over 30 years of healthcare experience, Ms. Ledbetter serves as the Chief Data Officer and Chief of the Enterprise Data Operations Branch in the Information Services Division within the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). Ms. Ledbetter serves on the National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) board of directors. She is an active member of the California Health Information Association (CHIA), and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Ms. Ledbetter has a bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management from The Ohio State University and holds a Masters in Health Services Administration from St. Mary’s College.
Vanessa Avery was appointed as the Associate Attorney General for Enforcement, Litigation and Investigations by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong in January 2019. She manages all aspects of affirmative enforcement by the office, including multi-district cases involving antitrust and government program fraud, consumer protection, the opioid epidemic, the Affordable Care Act, immigration, the environment, privacy and data security, as well as cases pending locally. Previously, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Connecticut. She handled a broad variety of cases on behalf of the United States, its agencies and employees. Prior to that, she was a Trial Attorney for the Department of Justice Civil Division in Washington, D.C. She also spent over a decade in law firm practice focusing on business and financial litigation. Vanessa earned her degrees at Yale University and Georgetown University Law Center.
Terry Cothran is currently the Director at Pharmacy Management Consultants (a division of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy). His team provides support to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (state Medicaid agency) in managing the pharmacy benefits for our state Medicaid members. His practice has expanded into areas of Medication Therapy Management, Antibiotic Stewardship, Alternate Payment Models (APMs)/Value-Based Contracting, Academic Detailing, and programs to reduce over prescribing in nursing homes. The APM initiative has gained attention nationally from CMS as the first state Medicaid to initiate an APM intended to reduce prescription and healthcare costs.
Craig Nale is Policy and Legal Director to Senator Troy D. Jackson, the President of the Maine Senate. Craig’s work focuses primarily on the areas of healthcare and health and human services. Craig practiced law at a firm in Portland, Maine, for two years prior to joining the Maine Legislature in 2014. Craig is a graduate of Boston University and the University of Maine School of Law.
Stacey was named Interim Director for the Office of Health Analytics, Oregon Health Authority (OHA), in early 2019. OHA’s Office of Health Analytics is comprised of research, policy, and analytic staff who collect, organize and analyze data which they use to inform efforts to improve Oregon’s health care system. Previously Stacey was the Research and Data Manager within Health Analytics, and before that she managed a team focused on population health data for the Oregon Public Health Division. Stacey received her B.S. in Industrial and Operations Engineering and her Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan.
Ms. Bresaw serves as Program Director for the New Hampshire (NH) Governor’s Recovery Friendly Workplace (RFW) initiative and Vice President of Public Health for Granite United Way. As Program Director, Ms. Bresaw works in close coordination with the Governors Office, the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and the Community Development Finance Authority to administer the initiative. Through this initiative, Ms. Bresaw and her team work to empower employers to challenge stigma and provide supportive work environments for people in recovery and those impacted by substance use disorders. Ms. Bresaw’s role focuses on program development, coordination and alignment, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainability planning. At Granite United Way, Ms. Bresaw oversees public health strategies and initiatives and works to align these efforts with existing collaborations, partnerships, and Community Health Improvement Plans. In addition, Ms. Bresaw provides overall leadership and coordination to statewide public health efforts on behalf of Granite United Way, with a particular focus on addressing NH’s current opioid crisis.
Born and raised in NH, Ms. Bresaw received her Master of Social Work Degree in 2004 from the University of New Hampshire, with a concentration in community and administrative practice. She has worked in the field of public health and substance use disorders since 2004. In her current role, Ms. Bresaw provides ongoing technical assistance and support to key sectors to ensure the use of best practice approaches in public health and prevention. Ms. Bresaw has significant experience in the development of strategic plans, logic models, evaluation plans, and work plans designed to impact crucial public health issues in our communities. Ms. Bresaw currently serves as Co-Chair of the Prevention Task Force of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs. She also serves as Vice President to the Board of the NH Public Health Association.
Sarah Finne, DMD, MPH brings over 30 years of experience from both private practice dentistry and public health supervision of a large school-based dental program in New Hampshire to her work in Dental Medicaid. Sarah remains active professionally as a member of the board and immediate past president of the Medicare-Medicaid-CHIP State Dental Association, as a member of the Association of State & Territorial Dental Directors, the ADA, and the International College of Dentists. She supports community oral health access through board membership with the NH Dental Society Foundation and the Greater Derry Oral Health Collaborative Corporation. Sarah holds a DMD degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine as well as a Master’s in Public Health Administration from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Sarah Brummett, is Director of the Office of Suicide Prevention at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The Office is legislatively mandated as the state coordinating body for suicide prevention, intervention and postvention efforts. The Office sets statewide priorities and works with state agencies and community organizations to develop and implement effective strategies, including a community grant program, means restriction education initiatives, the Zero Suicide initiative, education and awareness programs, emergency department and hospital outreach and education, the Colorado-National Collaborative, federal grant-funded initiatives, Mental Health First Aid, and a school grant program.
Before joining CDPHE, Ms. Brummett practiced family and appellate law in both Colorado Springs and the Denver Metro area. Ms. Brummett received her JD from the Sturm College of Law, University of Denver and also a Master’s of Forensic Psychology from the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of Denver.
Sabrina Corlette is a Research Professor at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University. At CHIR she directs research on health insurance reform issues. Her areas of focus include state and federal regulation of private health insurance plans and markets and evolving insurance market rules. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Ms. Corlette was Director of Health Policy Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she provided policy expertise and strategic direction for the organizations advocacy on health care reform, with a particular focus on insurance market reform, benefit design, and the quality and affordability of health care. From 1997 to 2001, Ms. Corlette worked as a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee. After leaving the Hill, Ms. Corlette served as an attorney at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she advised clients on health care law and policy relating to HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid, and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Ms. Corlette is a member of the D.C. Bar and received her J.D. with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin and her undergraduate degree with honors from Harvard University. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband and two daughters.
Richard N. Gottfried has chaired the NY State Assembly Health Committee since 1987 and represents a district in Manhattan. He works to expand publicly funded health coverage; protect patient autonomy, especially in reproductive and end-of-life care; and support safety-net health care providers. He sponsors the “New York Health” bill to create a state single-payer universal health plan and sponsored NY’s medical marijuana law. He’s a lawyer (Columbia, JD ’73) but does not have a private practice. Member of NY Academy of Medicine, National Academy for State Health Policy, Reforming States Group, NYC Bar Association, and NY Civil Liberties Union.
Richard N. Gottfried has chaired the NY State Assembly Health Committee since 1987 and represents a district in Manhattan. He works to expand publicly funded health coverage; protect patient autonomy, especially in reproductive and end-of-life care; and support safety-net health care providers. He sponsors the “New York Health” bill to create a state single-payer universal health plan and sponsored NY’s medical marijuana law. He’s a lawyer (Columbia, JD ’73) but does not have a private practice. Member of NY Academy of Medicine, National Academy for State Health Policy, Reforming States Group, NYC Bar Association, and NY Civil Liberties Union.
Regan Foust, PhD is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and a Research Scientist at the Children’s Data Network at USC. An experienced researcher, project manager, and data translator, she works closely with data, research, and funding partners to pursue and communicate the CDN’s transdisciplinary research agenda, inform childrens’ programs/policies, and build the capacity of government agencies to make better use of their own data. Formerly, as Senior Manager, Data and Research for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, she managed kidsdata.org, guided development and implementation of child health and well-being initiatives, and stewarded strategic data and communication partnerships. She also comes with prior experience replicating effective youth development interventions and evaluating and improving child welfare and educational programs. Dr. Foust holds a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Psychology from U.C. Davis.
Paul Precht is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office at CMS whose portfolio includes policy issues impacting Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans. Prior to starting at CMS in 2010, Mr. Precht was the Policy Director for the Medicare Rights Center, a nonprofit advocacy and service organization based in New York.
Paige Duhamel is the Healthcare Policy Manager and lawyer for the Office of Superintendent of Insurance for the State of New Mexico. She began her work in the health insurance arena in law school with research on the impact of discriminatory health insurance benefit design on marginalized populations. Prior to joining the New Mexico’s Office of Superintendent of Insurance, she worked in a consumer advocacy law firm focusing on health care reform implementation and women’s access to health care. In the four years that Ms. Duhamel has been with OSI, her work has focused on regulatory and legislative policy development, including the Surprise Billing Protection Act, legislation to align New Mexico law with the Affordable Care Act, protections against unscrupulous purveyors of short term and limited benefits plans, and guarantees for network adequacy and prompt and transparent benefit utilization review.
Dr. Nicole Gastala is board certified in Family Medicine and is currently a Clinical Physician, Researcher, and Director of Behavioral Health and Addiction Medicine at Mile Square Health Center at the University of Illinois Hospitals and Health Science System, in Chicago, IL. Her interests include treating whole families with a special focus on preventative health care, group visits, and medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. She is a graduate of Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago and completed her residency at the University of Iowa in Family Medicine.
Michael White has worked in the field of substance use disorder for over 9 years with an additional 3 years working with children and families. Michael specializes in substance use disorder program development between community agencies and judicial systems and has developed, implemented, and supported the integration of Medication Assisted Treatment into county and state correctional facilities located in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Texas. At Community Medical Services Michael supervises a team that closely works with Superior Court Drug Court Programs along with coordinating care to and from county and state correctional facilities. His experience also includes working within family courts, Department of Child Safety, and obtaining resources for pregnant women with substance use disorders by collaborating with community partners. Michael supports efforts of collaboration in Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin. Michael is a national presenter in the areas of Collective Impact as an effective tool for the continuum of care, pregnancy and opioid dependence, along with Opioid treatment within Criminal Justice systems. Michael is a two-time graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a Masters in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Counseling. He has been proud to sit on the board for the Maricopa County Reentry Program and was a member of the Coconino County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Currently, Michael is associated with the Maricopa County Correctional Health Coalition, is an executive board member for Hushabye Baby, and was recently appointed as a board member to Arizona Governor DougDucey’s Substance Abuse Task Force.
Meredith Ray-LaBatt, MA, MSW, works as the Deputy Director of the Division of Integrated Service for Children and Families at the New York State Office of Mental Health. For more than twenty years, Meredith has worked on behalf of children and their families, spending much of her career working to address the complex needs of children with mental health challenges who become involved with various other child-serving systems, including substance use, juvenile justice and child welfare. Most recently, Meredith has been working to transition children and childrens mental health services into Medicaid managed care, under the Medicaid Redesign efforts within New York State. This cross-system effort is working to create greater access and better align children’s behavioral health services for youth with various needs; including those in foster care, with serious mental health challenges and substance use disorders. Meredith holds Masters degrees in Criminal Justice and Social Welfare from the New York State University at Albany.
Megan O’Reilly is the Vice President for Federal Health and Family issues in AARP’s Government Affairs Office. Prior to joining AARP, Megan was the Director in the Office of Legislation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Megan worked on Capitol Hill for 13 years for both Rep. George Miller on the Education & Labor committee and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. Megan holds a JD from DePaul University and a BA from American University.
Matthew Statman LMSW, CAADC is Manager of the University of Michigan Collegiate Recovery Program, Adjunct Lecturer at the Eastern Michigan University School of Social Work, private social work practitioner and member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. Matt earned his bachelors degree in Social Work from Eastern Michigan University and his masters degree from the University Of Michigan School Of Social Work. Matt is a person in recovery from a substance use disorder who has spent his career helping those with substance use disorders initiate and sustain recovery.
Mark Schulz
Speaker
Mark Schulz is the LTSS Systems Consultant for the Minnesota Board on Aging and a Legislative Liaison for Minnesotas Aging and Adult Services Division. In these roles he is reshaping the states long term care system to reduce its reliance on institutional care in favor of home and community-based service options and reforming those supports. He brings together key individuals and groups that have the talents and resources needed to develop, foster, fund and implement new, integrated community services at the local level.
Mark has served as an Ombudsman for Long-Term Care learning firsthand the complex reality our most vulnerable adults live with each day. Before that role, he served with the US military in various leadership positions with responsibility for small and large-scale, multi-faceted teams and complex financial situations. Mark received a JD from William Mitchell College of Law and a BS in engineering management from the United State Military AcademyWest Point.
Margarita Alegría
Speaker
Margarita Alegría is the Chief of the Disparities Research Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital and a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where she has served since 2004. Dr. Alegria was Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research at Cambridge Health Alliance from 2002-2015 and a former Director of the Center for Evaluation and Sociomedical Research at the University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Alegría is the Principal Investigator (PI) of four National Institutes of Health(NIH)-funded research studies and a grant funded by the William T. Grant Foundation. She has published over 200 papers, editorials, intervention training manuals, and several book chapters, focused on improving health care for diverse racial and ethnic populations. In October 2011, she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in acknowledgement of her scientific contributions to her field.
Linette Scott, MD, MPH, is the Chief Medical Information Officer and the Deputy Director of the Information Management Division in the California Department of Health Care Services. In this role she works across the Department and with stakeholders to ensure that reliable data and information are available, and used to drive improvements in population health and clinical outcomes through the Department’s programs and policies. Dr. Scott is a Board Certified Physician in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. She has a Doctor of Medicine from Eastern Virginia Medical School, a Masters in Public Health from University of California, Davis, and a Bachelors of Arts in Physics from University of California, Santa Cruz. Highlights from her career include serving as a General Medical Officer with the United States Navy, first as squadron physician with the Regional Support Group and later as the military physician for an Active Duty clinic; as a Public Health Medical Officer with the California Department of Health Services; as the California State Registrar and Deputy Director of Health Information and Strategic Planning in the California Department of Public Health, and as the Interim Deputy Secretary for Health Information Technology at the California Health and Human Services Agency.
Leann is the director of the Equity and Inclusion Division for the Oregon Health Authority, joining the agency in 2010. Leann has 25 years of leadership experience developing equity, diversity and inclusion programs. Past employers include Clark College, the City of Vancouver and the YWCA She also has served as a consultant to multiple organizations including the Vancouver Police Department, Portland General Electric, Bonneville Power Administration, Hewlett-Packard and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Leann is a qualified administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory and holds a master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology with focus in Multicultural Organizational Development and Indigenous Psychology.
Kevin Martin
Speaker
Kevin Martin is the Fee for Service Rates Manager at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. He oversees the maintenance and reform of payment methodologies for inpatient and outpatient hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and pharmaceuticals. He has 13 years of healthcare experience ranging from systems management to program integrity and mostly focusing on data analysis in various forms. Recently he has been involved in several large payment reform efforts including, implementation of the Enhanced Ambulatory Patient Grouper methodology for outpatient hospitals and developing a per member per month payment model for FQHCs.
Mr. DeCerchio currently serves as the program director of the In-Depth Technical Assistance Program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA) National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, and the Deputy Project Director of the National Quality Improvement Center for Collaborative Community Court Teams, funded by the Childrens Bureau in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Prior to joining the staff of Children and Family Futures, Mr. DeCerchio served as the Assistant Secretary for Substance Abuse and Mental Health with the Florida Department of Children and Families Services from 2005 to 2007, and as the state Substance Abuse Director from 1995-2005. In November 2001, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Mr. DeCerchio as Deputy Director for Treatment to the Florida Office of Drug Control, and in 2004 he was appointed by Secretary Tommy Thompson to serve on CSAT´s National Advisory Council. Mr. DeCerchio has been a volunteer Guardian Ad Litem for children in foster care since October 2008.
Katie Gudiksen
Speaker
Katherine L. Gudiksen, Ph.D., M.S., is a Senior Health Policy Researcher for The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Her work focuses on policies to address rising healthcare costs with an emphasis on state-level interventions to promote competition. While at The Source, she developed the pharmaceutical page to track and analyze state legislation to address rising drug prices. She is a graduate of the UCSF/UC Hastings Master of Science in Health Policy and Law program, where she studied policy solutions to address market inefficiencies in the pharmaceutical industry. She also holds an A.M. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University and a B.S. and B.A. from Hope College. Prior to joining The Source, she was co-founder and Director of Technology at Nidaan Inc., a cancer diagnostics company working to develop technologies designed to detect biomarker signatures for aggressive prostate cancer.
Kate McEvoy is the Director of the Division of Health Services at the Connecticut Department of Social Services. In her role as Director of Medicaid and CHIP, Kate has had the privilege of overseeing major transformation in Connecticut HUSKY Health, migrating from capitated managed care arrangements to a self-insured, managed fee-for-service approach. This has streamlined and simplified the program for both members and providers, freed up resources for an extensive array of care delivery and value-based payment interventions, and enabled the program to reduce both per member, per month costs and overall spend. During Kates tenure, Connecticut has expanded Medicaid and utilized a broad range of tools and funding under the Affordable Care Act to cover new services, take a person-centered approach, and enable choice and self-direction for older adults and people with disabilities.
Kate is a graduate of Oberlin College with a B.A. in Economics and English, received her law degree from the University of Connecticut, and graduated from the CHCS/NGA Medicaid Leadership Institute. Her background is in community-based services for older adults, and she is the author of Connecticut Elder Law, a treatise that is republished each year. Kate is currently serving as the President of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and on the executive committee of the Reforming States Group.
Karynlee Harrington
Speaker
Karynlee Harrington is the Executive Director of the Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO) & the Maine Quality Forum (MQF). Both State agencies are responsible for promoting the transparency of health care costs and quality in the State of Maine. MHDO is the State of Maines All Payer Claims Database, and is also responsible for collecting hospital encounter, quality, financial and organizational data, and pharmacy data from the supply chain. MQF is responsible for improving health care quality in the state. Prior to her current role, Ms. Harrington served as the Vice President of Sales & Customer Support for CIGNA HealthCare of Maine and New Hampshire. Ms. Harrington has over 25 years experience working in health care. She earned her B.S. from the University of New Hampshire in Health Management and Policy.
Julia Wacloff
Speaker
Julia Wacloff, is the Dental Director for the Arizona Department of Health Services. Julia works with ADHS leadership and management on a variety of public health functions as related to oral health and has been in her current position for ten years. She was responsible for developing the first comprehensive state oral health plan for Arizona. Prior to joining the Department, she served as an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Oral Health. She has over 20 years of experience in various public health settings providing needs assessment, policy development and quality assurance at local, state and national levels.
Johnnie (Chip) Allen currently serves as the first Director of Health Equity at the Ohio Department of Health. In this position Mr. Allen is responsible for developing agency-wide goals, objectives and strategies to eliminate health disparities and promote health equity for all Ohio residents. Additionally, Mr. Allen works in partnership with national public health organizations, state cabinet-level agencies and a variety of public health programs to target services to disenfranchised groups, measure program performance and assess outcomes.
Mr. Allen has served in various public health capacities. These include working as a Disease Intervention Specialist, HIV Program Manager and the Chief of the Center for Health Promotion. Mr. Allen has implemented statewide social marketing activities to respond to chronic diseases; developed enterprise-wide program evaluation systems; and pioneered the use of market research analytic tools with GIS mapping capability to respond to health inequities.
Mr. Allen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Black Studies from The College of Wooster and a Masters in Public Health from Tulane University.
John-Pierre Cardenas
Speaker
John-Pierre Cardenas is the Director of Policy and Plan Management at the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange, where he was the primary author of Marylands state innovation waiver to establish the state reinsurance program. Mr. Cardenas has played a critical role in the shaping of important health coverage legislation in Maryland including the Maryland Easy Enrollment Health Insurance Program. Mr. Cardenas also manages agency relationships with state and federal legislators and regulatory industries; oversees the implementation and administration of the State Reinsurance Program; and provides end-to-end management and oversight of carrier relationships ranging from consumer enrollment to experience. He has been with the Maryland Health Benefits Exchange since 2013 in a variety of roles before assuming his current position in 2017. Mr. Cardenas previously worked as a research intern at the Health Benefits Exchange and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He received his Master of Science in Public Health from the Bloomberg School in 2014 and has a Bachelor of Arts in public health studies from the Johns Hopkins University.
Jodi Manz
Speaker
Jodi Manz, MSW serves as the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Resources in the Office of Governor Ralph Northam, a role she continued after serving four years under former Governor Terry McAuliffe. As Assistant Secretary, Jodi supports the development of health and behavioral health policy in the Commonwealth. She staffs the Governors Advisory Commission on Opioids and Addiction, the Governors Executive Leadership Team on Opioids, and coordinates the substance use disorder crisis response among Virginias state agencies. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Religious Studies, and she spent several years working in Chicago before returning to Richmond to complete the graduate program in Social Work Administration, Planning, and Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Jason Rachel
Speaker
Jason Rachel, Ph.D. is the Director for the Division of Integrated Care at the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). In this role, he is responsible for providing executive leadership in the management and implementation of both current and new integrated care programs. Dr. Rachel directs and oversees all operations, policies, contract compliance and quality monitoring activities within the division to provide high quality, person-centered coordinated care services. His former roles include serving as a Senior Research Leader at Truven Health Analytics providing technical assistance to state Medicaid home and community-based programs on their quality framework and as Virginia’s Money Follows the Person (MFP) Project Director at DMAS. Dr. Rachel received his doctorate in Health Related Sciences with a specialization in Gerontology from Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Allied Health Professions.
Jane Wishner
Speaker
Jane Wishner is New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Executive Policy Advisor for Health and Human Services. An attorney with extensive experience as a litigator, researcher and advocate, Ms. Wishner left the private practice of law to become the founder and first Executive Director of the Southwest Women’s Law Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she led the Center’s systemic advocacy in the areas of discrimination, domestic violence, Title IX, reproductive health and women’s access to comprehensive health care coverage and services. She organized and led New Mexico’s consumer advisory group on implementation of the Affordable Care Act, served on the Market Regulation work group of the New Mexico Exchange Advisory Task Force and was a consumer representative on the Board of Trustees of the University of New Mexico Hospital, the state’s leading safety net hospital. Ms. Wishner left the Southwest Women’s Law Center to spend more time on health care policy work. She served as a qualitative researcher at the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where she led several studies and co-authored numerous research reports, journal articles and briefs related to healthcare access, Medicaid, the private insurance market, opioid use disorder treatment, and the Affordable Care Act. Ms Wishner returned to New Mexico to work as the Policy Director for Michelle Lujan Grisham’s campaign for Governor, served on the Governor-Elect’s transition team, and joined Governor Lujan Grisham’s Administration in January 2019.
ane Beyer began her career as a legal services attorney in Tacoma Washington. She served as legal counsel to the Washington State House of Representatives for twenty years, working on a broad range of health, behavioral health, long term care, human services and criminal justice issues. She was Washington State’s Medicaid director from 1995 through 1998, and Washington State’s Behavioral Health Commissioner from 2012-2015. She has served as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler since January 2017.
She graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law and is admitted to practice in Washington State and the District of Columbia.
James A. Clair
Speaker
Jim provides executive consulting services to technology-enabled companies in the pharmacy services and SaaS space. He is presently an Executive Consultant to CSSHealth, a Buffalo, NY technology-enabled company that provides Medication Therapy Management and Adherence services to health plans and pharmacy benefit managers. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Reveal Rx, a technology company that enables the review of pharmacy claims by health plans and PBMs. He formerly was CEO of Goold Health Systems, a healthcare management/pharmacy benefits administrator that more than tripled in size during his tenure. GHS was sold to Change Healthcare in 2013, and Jim ran the GHS wholly-owned subsidiary as well as their PBM business until mid-2016. From 2017 to 2018, Jim was CEO of Tricast, LLC, a technology-enabled pharmacy auditing company that sold to a competitor in 2018Q2.
Heidi Haley-Franklin
Speaker
Heidi Haley-Franklin is the Vice President, Programs at the MN ND chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association in Minneapolis, MN. Heidi has over 20 years of experience working with individuals and families in private practice, group homes, long-term and home health care settings. In her current position, she oversees all of the Association’s programs and services, and provides clinical supervision and ongoing education to those who directly work with individuals impacted by Alzheimers disease and related dementias. Heidi holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, a BA from the University of MN, Morris, and is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker.
After serving one term as a Representative in the Maine House, Heather ran for the State Senate and is currently serving her first term, representing part of Portland and Westbrook, Maine. A former public school teacher and attorney, Heather now owns and runs Rising Tide Brewing Company with her husband, Nathan, in Portland. Under Heather’s leadership, Rising Tide has created two dozen jobs and helped spur the revitalization of the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland. Rising Tide has been committed to giving back to the community, with significant on-going support for the Maine Island Trail Association, the Good Shepherd Food Bank, Full Plates Full Potential, Portland Trails and many other organizations. Heather also served for many years on the Portland Development Corporation board, a quasi-municipal organization that administers the city’s economic development revolving loan funds and job creation grant programs. Heather and her husband live in Portland with their teenage son.
Heather Winfield-Smith is the Vaccine Supply and Distribution Section supervisor for the Hawaii Department of Health, Immunization Branch. In her role as Section Supervisor, she coordinates the Hawaii Stop Flu at School Program, a school-located influenza vaccination program that conducts annual clinics in over 180 participating schools, statewide. Heather also coordinates the Hawaii Vaccines For Children (VFC) Program which supplies hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine annually to VFC-participating providers for administration to Hawaiis eligible children. Heather has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Hawaii and over 20 years of experience working at the Hawaii Department of Health Immunization Branch. The health of Hawaiis children, families, and communities are the motivation for Heather’s work and she is honored to have a role in ensuring their protection from the potentially devastating outcomes of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Hazel Alvarenga is the State Opioid Coordinator in the Office of the Director at the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Hazel assists the Clinical Initiatives Project Manager with the management of the State Opioid Response (SOR) grant with the aim to reduce the effects of the opioid epidemic in Arizona. Prior to her current role, Hazel served as the Opioid State Targeted Response (STR) Project Coordinator and Opioid Epidemiologist at AHCCCS. She holds a masters of public health degree in research epidemiology and global health from Loma Linda University and a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from The University of California Irvine.
Gary Cohen has been a pioneer in the environmental health movement for thirty years. Cohen is President and Co-Founder of Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm. He was also instrumental in bringing together the NGOs and hospital systems that formed the Healthier Hospitals Initiative. All three were created to transform the health care sector to be environmentally sustainable and serve as anchor institutions to support environmental health in their communities.
Cohen was Executive Director of the Environmental Health Fund for many years. He has helped build coalitions and networks globally to address the environmental health impacts related to toxic chemical exposure and climate change.
Cohen is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, India, which has been working for over 25 years to heal people affected by the Bhopal gas tragedy and to fight for environmental cleanup in Bhopal. He is also on the Boards of the American Sustainable Business Council, Health Leads and Coming Clean.
He has received numerous recognitions for his achievements, including: The MacArthur Foundation’s Fellows Award (2015), the White House’s Champion of Change Award for Public Health and Climate Change (2013), the Huffington Post’s Game Changer Award for Health (2012), the Frank Hatch Award for Enlightened Public Service (2007), and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2006).
Erica Guimaraes is a program coordinator in the Office of Community Health Workers at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she assists in promoting best practices for CHW integration into health care and public health teams. She also supports implementation of CHW certification in MA, including developing processes for CHW training program approval. Prior to joining DPH, Erica worked for 11 years in the Community Health Worker field, in the roles of a CHW, CHW supervisor and CHW program manager, at community based organizations and clinical settings. Erica holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
Ms. Stout directs the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) project at EDC, leading a team that provides resources and capacity building services to state and local leaders, health and behavioral health agencies and organizations, federal suicide prevention grantees, and national stakeholders involved in suicide prevention efforts across the country. She has worked in the suicide prevention field for 12 years, with a focus on building state and tribal suicide prevention workforce and infrastructure capacity for strategic, comprehensive, evidence-informed suicide prevention programs. Ms. Stout serves as a subject matter expert on substance abuse and suicide prevention collaboration, strategic planning, accessing and using surveillance data for program planning and evaluation, and knowledge translation and dissemination. She has presented widely at national and local conferences, as well as participating in federal and other national advisory groups, including a current national effort to develop recommendations for state suicide prevention infrastructure. Ms. Stout holds a Masters of Science in Health Communication, and has worked with state and local audiences to build capacity in strategic and effective messaging and campaigns for behavior change.
Doug Thomas is the Director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, for the state of Utah. He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), and the National Association of State Mental Health and Programs Directors (NASMHPD), and is an active member of the Utah Substance Abuse Advisory Council. Doug has worked in the mental health and substance use disorder field for over 24 years in various capacities as a direct service provider and administrator. He has worked in both urban and rural settings and previously oversaw County services implementing evidence-based service delivery models; expanding prevention, treatment and recovery support services in rural Utah including work with tribal government. Doug is passionate about prevention and early intervention and integrating prevention efforts into systems to produce lasting outcomes to reduce risk and increase the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.
Dawn Lambert co-leads the Community Options Unit within Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. Within that role, her focus is on person-centered strategy and innovation. With over 25 years of experience in long-term services and supports, she currently serves as an appointed member of the National Academy for State Health Policy, an advisor to the AARP’s Public Policy Institute in Washington DC and a consultant to the Department of Justice regarding community options for older adults and people with disabilities.
A nationally recognized expert in health indicators and health disparities, CDR David T. Huang is the branch chief of the Health Promotion Statistics Branch, which provides data and statistical support to the national Healthy People initiative at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). He is a member of the charter class of Certified in Public Health (CPH) professionals and has contributed to articles appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), American Journal of Public Health, Annual Review of Public Health, American Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), in addition to serving as a contributing author on several federal publications on Healthy People 2010 and 2020. CDR Huang’s education includes a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MPH in quantitative methods from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
David Crall is the legislative analyst for the Oklahoma Senate Health and Human Services Committee, a position he has held since July 2017. David staffed the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Commission on Opioid Abuse in fall 2017 and drafted several pieces of legislation resulting from the work of Commission during the 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions. After voters legalized medical marijuana in Oklahoma through ballot initiative, David was the lead Senate staffer on the bicameral Medical Marijuana Working Group, which held public meetings with experts from the marijuana industry, state agencies, law enforcement, the medical field, the Oklahoma business community and NCSL throughout the summer of 2018 to study how best to implement the new medical marijuana program. David drafted the resulting Oklahoma Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act, which created a regulatory framework for the program, as well as various other pieces of legislation relating to medical marijuana.
David Cassetty
Speaker
David serves as the Deputy Commissioner of Insurance in Las Vegas, and oversees the consumer services and enforcement sections of the Division. Prior to assuming this position, David spent 4 years as the General Counsel for Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation, managing 8 attorneys in the regulation of the insurance, banking and securities industries. David also has spent many years as an assistant attorney general, in Vermont and American Samoa, and started his law career in private practice in Florida, where he was board certified in appellate practice, mostly working on behalf of insurance companies.
Dave Richard is the Deputy Secretary, NC Medicaid, where he leads North Carolina’s $14 billion Medicaid and NC Health Choice programs for the states Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Richard’s vision for Medicaid is to ensure a sustainable, person-centered and innovative Medicaid program for more than two million North Carolinians who use Medicaid. As the programs undergo transformation to even better fit the needs of state and its residents, he is committed to the fundamental goal of improving the health and well-being of all residents. Richard believes the right way to achieve success is to work closely with stakeholders in all aspects of Medicaid.
Prior to leading Medicaid, Richard was the Deputy Secretary for DHHS Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Services and the State Operated Healthcare Facilities divisions. He joined DHHS in May 2013 as the Director of the Division of Mental Health, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. Richard joined DHHS after leading The Arc of North Carolina, an advocacy and service organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as its Executive Director for 24 years.
Richard has a bachelor’s degree in education from Louisiana State University.
Daphnne Brown is the Director of Family Involvement & Outreach for Families Together in New York State. She provides support to families, advocates and service providers on family driven care, systems advocacy, and family empowerment. Daphnne provides training and technical assistance to family-run and provider agencies in preparation for the transformation to Medicaid Managed Care. She has served as the family engagement consultant for the past 7 years on the NYS System of Care Expansion grant and currently trains family / youth peer advocates on the High Fidelity Wraparound process. Daphnne has a B.S. in Business Administration from SUNY College at Brockport and is a Credentialed Family Peer Advocate.
Daniel Tsai is the Assistant Secretary for MassHealth and Medicaid Director for the Commonwealth. Tsai was appointed in January 2015 by Governor Charlie Baker to oversee the state’s $16 billion Medicaid program, which covers over one in four residents in the Commonwealth. In his role, Tsai is responsible for ensuring a robust and sustainable MassHealth program that best meets the needs of members. That includes developing new policies, payment models, and operational processes that improve the way health care is delivered to 1.8 million low-and moderate-income residents and individuals with disabilities.
Before joining HHS, Tsai was a Partner and leader in McKinsey & Company’s Healthcare Systems and Services practice. He has significant experience on the design and implementation of innovative, state-wide health care payment systems for Medicaid, Medicare, and Commercial populations, and has worked closely with multiple state Medicaid programs, private payers, and health services companies. He received a Bachelor of Arts in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard University.
Assistant Secretary Tsai lives with his wife and son in Cambridge. He volunteers at a local community health center in Boston’s South End.
Connor McDonnell is a Housing Integrator with Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) where he leads efforts to reduce homelessness and expand affordable housing options for Oregon’s most vulnerable residents. This work includes initiating the Oregon Rural Peer Network for Supportive Housing and crafting a Permanent Supportive Housing program in Oregon. Prior to OHCS, he worked in a homeless shelter as a housing case manager, for elected officials, and in various levels of government working in different capacities at the nexus of health and housing. He most recently came to State government by way of HUD where he is most proud of creating the HUD Resource Locator which maps out all the federal housing programs across the U.S. Connor has a Master’s in Public Administration from The Hatfield School at Portland State University and a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Tech.
Colleen Sonosky, JD is the Associate Director of the Division of Children’s Health Services in the Health Care Delivery Management Administration in the District of Columbia’s Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF). DHCF is the agency responsible for the administration of the Medicaid program and the Division of Children’s Health Services oversees policies and procedures for Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) services benefit—the pediatric component of the Medicaid program for children under 21. Ms. Sonosky also serves as the District’s EPSDT Coordinator and CHIP Director and represents DHCF on the District-wide Child Fatality Review Committee, Interagency Coordinating Committee for Early Intervention, and the State Early Child Development Coordinating Committee (SECDCC) where she co-chairs the Health/Wellbeing Subcommittee. She has also served on many national work groups concerning maternal and child health, including CMS’ National EPSDT Improvement Working Group, National Academy for State Health Policy’s (NASHP) Future of Children’s Coverage Workgroup and is a Member of NASHP’s Steering Committee on Health System Performance and Public Health.
Previously, Ms. Sonosky was the Director of Public Policy Research for the March of Dimes Foundation, the Vice President of Policy at FirstFocus, and the Senior Director of Programs and Policy for the Children’s Defense Fund. From 1993 to 2003, she served as Assistant Director and a lead researcher on maternal and child health policy at the Center for Health Policy Research (now housed in the Department of Health Policy) at The George Washington University. Ms. Sonosky is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Health Policy and Prevention/Community Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, where she has taught courses on maternal and child health policy.
Mr. Clinton Lasley is the Director of the Division of Alaska Pioneer Homes operating six state owned assisted living homes including the states only State Veterans Home. Mr. Lasley has been with the Department of Health and Social Services for six years, serving first in the Division of Public Health before moving to the Division of Alaska Pioneer Homes in 2016. Born and raised in Alaska, Mr. Lasley has 25 years of business management and organizational leadership experience with a passion for elders and promoting public health.
Catherine Kirk Robins works as a Deputy Director for the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative on issues surrounding prescription drug affordability. As a part of the MCHI team, Ms. Kirk Robins played an integral role in mobilizing a broad coalition to support the passing of Maryland’s landmark anti-price gouging and Prescription Drug Affordability Board legislation. Ms. Kirk Robins has worked to develop, progress, and implement state-level policy to address prescription drug affordability, and continues to collaborate with other state initiatives to improve legislative approaches to this issue.
Elizabeth Tilson serves North Carolina as the State Health Director and the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, she promotes public health and prevention activities, as well as provides guidance and oversight on a variety of cross-Departmental issues.
Dr. Tilson received her BA in biology from Dartmouth College, earned her Medical Degree at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She completed a Pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a General Preventive Medicine/Public Health Residency at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and is board certified in both fields. She has been active and has served in leadership roles in many local, state, and national pediatric, public health and preventive medicine organizations.
Beth Waldman is a Senior Consultant at Bailit Health with national expertise in health care policy, program development and implementation, specializing in Medicaid and CHIP programs and coverage for the uninsured. Beth’s work includes assisting states and other stakeholders in delivery system and payment reform design; care management and health home program design; behavioral health reform, including integration, opiate prevention and treatment; quality measurement; managed care procurements; and long-term services and supports strategy and integration.
Prior to joining Bailit Health, Beth worked for 12 plus years within the Massachusetts Medicaid program and served as the Massachusetts Medicaid Director from 2003 – 2006. Beth is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady, NY. She holds a law degree from Boston College Law School and a master of public health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Sessions:
MCH PIP Ancillary Meeting (CLOSED INVITATION ONLY MEETING)
Beth Kuhn
Speaker
Beth Kuhn is Chief Engagement Officer at the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services, leading policy and operational efforts to better integrate workforce, health and human service programs. She was until recently Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Workforce Investment, collaborating with many partners in a system of Kentucky Career Centers providing employment, vocational rehabilitation, veterans, and other workforce services to employer and individual customers. Prior to her appointment as Commissioner in December of 2014, Beth served as Sector Strategies Director, assisting with the design and implementation of industry sector-based approaches to workforce and economic development.
Beth has over 30 years of experience creating and implementing innovative workforce programs. She previously served as Director of Workforce Development at the Vermont Department of Labor, as Project Director at the United Way of Chittenden County (VT) where she developed employer partnerships to improve retention and advancement of entry-level workers, and as Vice President of WFD, Inc., a human resources consulting firm providing employee benefits, women’s advancement, and public-private partnerships to Fortune 100 companies including Ford Motor Company, GE, and IBM.
Beth has a BA in Public Policy from the James Madison College of Michigan State University, and a Master’s in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Ben Steffen serves as the Executive Director of the Maryland Health Care Commission. The Maryland Health Care Commission is an independent regulatory agency whose mission is to plan for health system needs, promote informed decision-making, increase accountability, and improve access to health care and health care coverage in Maryland. The MHCC administers the certificate of need program, the establishment of Maryland’s Health Information Exchange, and cost and quality reporting initiatives for hospitals, nursing homes, and health plans. Prior to assuming this position, he served as the Director of the Commission’s Center for Information Services and Analysis. This Center has analytic and operational responsibilities for health care practitioner initiatives in the state including development of an All Payer Data Base and the Patient Centered Medical Home Program. Mr. Steffen serves as a spokesperson for the Commission at state and national levels on state health care expenditures, physician work force, physician uncompensated care, and information security. Before joining the MHCC, he served as a budget analyst in the Health, Housing, and Income Security Division of the Congressional Budget Office, among activities he worked on the modeling that produced the estimates of reforms that ultimately led to the Medicare Prospective Payment System. Mr. Steffen holds a Master’s Degree from American University and has completed post-graduate work at the University Of Michigan. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer to Nepal.
Mr. Bassiri is Chief of Staff to the Medicaid Director at the New York State Department of Health. Prior to joining the Department of Health in May of 2019, he worked as Senior Policy Advisor for Health in the Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo under the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. His role in the Governor’s Office involved policymaking and implementation of strategic health initiatives, specifically related to the pharmaceuticals, insurance expansion, and Medicaid delivery system reforms.
As a California native, Amir earned his B.A. in both Economics and Psychology from the University of California, Davis, before earning a Master’s in Social Work (M.S.W) from Columbia University.
Alfred has served in various staff and management capacities in private industry, county and state government serving vulnerable populations since 1996.
Alfred has worked for the Division of Quality Assurance since 2001. Alfred has served the Division of Quality in a variety of roles, Assisted Living Surveyor, Assisted Living Regional Director, Director of the Bureau of Technology, Licensing and Education and currently Director of the Bureau of Assisted Living.
While in DQA, Alfred has been instrumental in establishing collaborative statewide working relationships with counties, care management organizations, advocates and industry representatives to help improve the quality of care in assisted-living settings.
Alex Blandford oversees and executes the CSG Justice Center’s health policy portfolio and works to improve access to health care for people in the criminal justice system through federal, state, and local policy. Prior to joining the CSG Justice Center, Alex was a project coordinator for the Institute for Evaluation Science in Community Health, which is housed in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. As a project coordinator, she oversaw a variety of research projects, including one examining the Pittsburgh region’s emergency response to mental health crises, and another evaluating the region’s Crisis Intervention Team training for police officers. She earned her BS in psychology and BA in French from the Pennsylvania State University and her MPH at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.
Alana Knudson, PhD, serves as a Program Area Director in the Public Health Department at NORC at the University of Chicago and is the Co-Director of NORC’s Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis. Dr. Knudson has over 25 years of experience implementing and directing public health programs, leading health services and health policy research projects, and evaluating program effectiveness. Her research and policy project findings have informed state, Tribal, and Federal health policy. She also has state and national public health experience having worked at the North Dakota Department of Health and for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Dr. Knudson serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Rural Health Association, the Board of Directors for the Maryland Rural Health Association, and the Board of Directors for the Rural Health Foundation. She is also a member of the RUPRI Health Panel.
A lifelong Oklahoman, Ashley has dedicated herself to the people of Oklahoma. Ashley currently works at the Oklahoma House of Representatives as a Legislative Assistant, after serving as Director of Constituent Services for Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb and after running the Senate soundboard while working as Secretary for the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. She is pursuing her degree at Oklahoma State University, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor in Political Science. Ashley is active in her political party at the state level, recently served as the Speaker of the House of Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature, and volunteers with a nationally accredited animal rescue, Tornado Alley Bulldog Rescue. When she is not saving dogs, Ashley enjoys fishing, reading, and cooking (although not at the same time). Ashley visited Chicago this summer for a Women in Government conference and is ecstatic to return to Chicago so quickly to attend NASHP’s’ Annual Conference.
In Massachusetts, where 96.4 percent of residents are insured, the marketplace, known as the Massachusetts Health Connector (Connector), has 
Colorado’s marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado (C4HCO), 
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. 
