GAO Announces Appointments to New Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission

WASHINGTON, DC (December 23, 2009) – Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of 17 members to the new Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). The official announcement will be published in the Federal Register.

"Many highly qualified individuals sought to serve on the Commission," Dodaro said. "Those selected bring to MACPAC an impressive range of professional expertise and experience as well as geographic diversity and meet the specific requirements of the legislation."

The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 established MACPAC to review Medicaid and CHIP access and payment policies and to advise Congress on issues affecting Medicaid and CHIP. The Act directs the Comptroller General to appoint MACPAC's members, with initial appointments to be made no later than January 1, 2010.

The terms of MACPAC commissioners are intended to be staggered, with the first set of appointments for terms of one, two, or three years. Commissioners may be appointed for subsequent three-year terms.

Commissioners whose first term will expire in December 2012 include:

• Diane Rowland, ScD, Executive Vice President, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Dr. Rowland will serve as chair of MACPAC.
• Donna Checkett, MPA, MSW, Senior Vice President of Medicaid Business Development, Aetna.
• Patricia Gabow, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Denver Health and Hospital Authority.
• Mark Hoyt, FSA, MAAA, National Practice Leader of the Government Human Services Consulting Specialty Group, Mercer, LLC.
• Trish Riley, MS, Director, Maine Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance.
• Steven Waldren, MD, MS, Director, Center for Health Information Technology, American Academy of Family Physicians.

Commissioners whose first term will expire in December 2011 include:

• David Sundwall, MD, Executive Director, Utah Department of Health, and Commissioner of Health, State of Utah. Dr. Sundwall will serve as vice chair of MACPAC.
• Richard Chambers, Chief Executive Officer, CalOptima.
• Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH, Professor, Clinical Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine and Clinical Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
• Denise Henning, CNM, MSN, Service Line Leader for Women's Health, Collier Health Services.
• Judith Moore, Senior Fellow, National Health Policy Forum, George Washington University.
• Robin Smith, foster and adoptive parent of special needs children covered by Medicaid.

Commissioners whose first term will expire in December 2010 include:

• Sharon L. Carte, MS, Executive Director, West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program.
• Andrea Cohen, JD, Director of Health Services, NYC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services.
• Herman Gray, MD, MBA, President, Children's Hospital of Michigan and Senior Vice President, Detroit Medical Center.
• Norma Martinez Rogers, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Department of Family Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
• Sara Rosenbaum, JD, Chair, Department of Health Policy and Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, George Washington (GW) University School of Public Health and Health Services, and Professor of Health Care Sciences, GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Attached are brief biographies of new commission members. For more information about MACPAC contact Mary Giffin of GAO's Health Care team at 202-512-7114, Chuck Young in GAO's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800, or visit the GAO Health Care Advisory Committees Web page at http://www.gao.gov/about/hcac/index.html.

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The Government Accountability Office, known as the investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities. GAO also works to improve the performance of the federal government and ensure its accountability to the American people. The agency examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. GAO's commitment to good government is reflected in its core values of accountability, integrity, and reliability.

Following are brief biographies of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) members:

Sharon L. Carte, MHS, is Executive Director of the West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program. From 1992 to 1998 Ms. Carte served as the Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau for Medical Services overseeing West Virginia's Medicaid program. Prior to that she was administrator of skilled and intermediate care nursing facilities in several states and Coordinator of Human Resources Development for the Division of Employee Services of the West Virginia Department of Health. Ms. Carte has also worked with senior centers and aging programs throughout the state of West Virginia and policies related to behavioral health and chronic care for children with mental illness. She received her Master of Health Science from the Johns Hopkins University.

Richard Chambers is Chief Executive Officer of CalOptima, a County Organized Health System which provides publicly funded health coverage programs for low income families, seniors and persons with disabilities in Orange County, California. CalOptima serves almost 400,000 members through Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plan programs. Before joining CalOptima in 2003, Mr. Chambers spent over 27 years working for the Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and San Francisco. He served as the Director of the Family and Children's Health Programs Group, responsible for national policy and operational direction of Medicaid and SCHIP. Prior to that Mr. Chambers served as Associate Regional Administrator for Medicaid in the San Francisco regional office and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Washington, D.C. office. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia.

Donna Checkett, MPA, MSW, is Senior Vice President of Medicaid Business Development at Aetna. Prior to that she was the Chief Executive Officer of Missouri Care, a managed Medicaid health plan owned by University of Missouri-Columbia Health Care, one of the largest safety net hospital systems in the state. For eight years Ms. Checkett served as the Director of the Missouri Division of Medical Services (Medicaid), during which time she was the chair of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors and a member of the National Governors Association Medicaid Improvements Working Group. Ms. Checkett also served as chair of the National Advisory Committee for Covering Kids, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program fostering outreach and eligibility simplification efforts for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries. She received a Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master of Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin.

Andrea Cohen, JD, is Director of Health Services for the NYC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, coordinating and implementing strategies to improve public health and health care services including the administration of Medicaid eligibility processes. She serves on the board of the Primary Care Development Corporation and represents the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services on the Board of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, the largest public hospital system in the country. From 2005 to 2009 Ms. Cohen was Counsel with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, where she advised clients on issues relating to Medicare, Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. Prior professional positions include Senior Policy Counsel at the Medicare Rights Center, Health and Oversight Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, and attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. She received her law degree from the Columbia University School of Law.

Burton L. Edelstein, DDS, MPH, is a pediatric dentist and Professor of Clinical Dentistry at the College of Dental Medicine and Clinical Health Policy and Management at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. He is also President of the Children's Dental Health Project, a national non-profit organization seeking to achieve equity in children's oral health. Dr. Edelstein practiced pediatric dentistry in Connecticut and taught pediatric dentistry and oral health policy at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine for 21 years. He served as a 1996-97 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow in the office of U.S. Senate minority leader Tom Daschle with primary responsibility for SCHIP. Dr. Edelstein worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on its oral health initiatives from 1998 to 2001, chaired the U.S. Surgeon General's Workshop on Children and Oral Health, and authored the child section of Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. He received his degree in dentistry from University at Buffalo, The State University of New York School of Dentistry and his Master in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Patricia Gabow, MD, is Chief Executive Officer of Denver Health and Hospital Authority, an integrated public safety net health care system that is the state's largest provider of care to Medicaid and uninsured patients. Dr. Gabow is a member of the Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High-Performing Health System, the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, and the New America Foundation's Health CEOs for Health Reform. Previously she served as chair of the National Association of Public Hospitals, as well as on two Institute of Medicine committees that addressed the future viability of safety net providers and performance measures and quality improvement. Dr. Gabow joined Denver Health in 1973 as chief of the Renal Division and is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Renal Diseases at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Herman Gray, MD, MBA, is President of Children's Hospital of Michigan (CHM) and Senior Vice President of the Detroit Medical Center. At CHM Dr. Gray served previously as pediatrics vice chief for education, pediatric residency program director, chief of staff and then chief operating officer. He also served as associate dean for graduate medical education (GME) and Vice President for GME at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Detroit Medical Center, respectively. Dr. Gray has also served as the chief medical consultant for the Michigan Department of Public Health – Children's Special Health Care Services and as Vice President and Medical Director of Clinical Affairs for Blue Care Network. During the 1980s he pursued private medical practice in Detroit. Dr. Gray serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, the Board of Directors of the Child Health Corporation of America, and the American Hospital Association Section for Maternal and Child Health Governing Council. He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and an executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee.

Denise Henning, CNM, MSN, is Service Line Leader for Women's Health at Collier Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Immokalee, Florida. A practicing midwife, Ms. Henning provides prenatal and gynecological care to a service population that is predominantly either uninsured or covered by Medicaid. From 2003 to 2008 she was Director of Clinical Operations for Women's Health Services at the Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida, where she supervised the midwifery and other clinical staff. Prior to this, Ms. Henning served as a Certified Nurse Midwife in several locations in Florida and as a labor and delivery nurse in a Level III teaching hospital. She is President of the Midwifery Business Network and a chapter chair of the American College of Nurse Midwives. She received her Master of Science in Nurse-Midwifery from the University of Florida in Jacksonville and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Mark Hoyt, FSA, MAAA, is the National Practice Leader of the Government Human Services Consulting group of Mercer H&B, LLC. This group helps states purchase health services for their Medicaid and CHIP Programs and has worked with over 30 states in the United States. He joined Mercer in 1980 and has worked on government health care projects since 1987, including developing strategies for statewide health reform, evaluating the impact of different managed care approaches, and overseeing program design and rate analysis for Medicaid and CHIP programs. Mr. Hoyt is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He received a Master of Science in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Norma Martinez Rogers, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Professor of the Department of Family Nursing at the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at San Antonio, where she has served on the faculty since 1996. Dr. Martinez Rogers has held clinical and administrative positions in psychiatric nursing and psychiatric hospitals, including the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in Fort Bliss during Operation Desert Storm. She has initiated a number of programs at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio including a support group for women transitioning from prison back into society and the Martinez Street Women's Center, a non-profit organization designed to provide support and educational services to women and teenage girls. Dr. Martinez Rogers is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and is President of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. She received a Master of Science in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and a Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Foundations in Education from the University of Texas at Austin.

Judith Moore is Senior Fellow at the National Health Policy Forum, George Washington University, where she specializes in work related to the health needs of low-income vulnerable populations. Prior to joining the Forum, Ms. Moore held positions in both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. At the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), she directed the Medicaid program and the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. Ms. Moore was special assistant to the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services) and held positions in the Public Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission. She is co-author of a political history of Medicaid: Medicaid Politics and Policy, 1965-2007.

Trish Riley, MS, is Director of the Maine Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance. She was a principal architect of the Dirigo Health Reform, which was enacted in 2003 to increase access, reduce costs, and improve quality of health care in Maine. Ms. Riley previously served as Executive Director of the National Academy for State Health Policy and President of its Corporate Board. Under four Maine governors, she held appointed positions including Executive Director of the Maine Committee on Aging, Director of the Bureau of Maine's Elderly, Associate Deputy Commissioner of Health and Medical Services, and Director of the Bureau of Medical Services which encompassed planning activities for Medicaid, residential and long-term care, and primary care. Ms. Riley served on Maine's Commission on Children's Health which planned the state's SCHIP program. She is a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and has served as a member of the Institute of Medicine's Subcommittee on Creating an External Environment for Quality and its Subcommittee on Maximizing the Value of Health. Ms. Riley has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Committee on Quality Assurance. She received her Master of Science in Community Development from the University of Maine.

Sara Rosenbaum, JD, is founder and chair of the Department of Health Policy and the Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy at the George Washington (GW) University School of Public Health and Health Services. She is also Professor of Health Care Sciences at GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, is a member of the faculty of GW's School of Law and directs the Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program. Professor Rosenbaum's research has focused on how the law intersects with the nation's health care and public health systems with a particular emphasis on insurance coverage, managed care, the health care safety net, health care quality, and civil rights. She also has served on the board of numerous national organizations including AcademyHealth, and is on many advisory boards. Professor Rosenbaum was recently appointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She has advised Congress and presidential administrations since 1977 and served on the staff of the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Clinton Administration. Professor Rosenbaum is co-author of Law and the American Health Care System. She received her law degree from Boston University School of Law.

Diane Rowland, ScD, is Executive Vice President of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and has been Executive Director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured since 1991. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Rowland's federal health policy experience includes service on the staff of the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives, as well as senior health policy positions in the Department of Health and Human Services. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a founding member of the National Academy for Social Insurance, and Past President and Fellow of the Association for Health Services Research (now AcademyHealth). Dr. Rowland is also a board member for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and has served on the Commonwealth Fund Commission on the Future of Health Insurance. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Doctor of Science in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Rowland will serve as chair of MACPAC.

Robin Smith and her husband Doug have been foster and adoptive parents for children covered by Medicaid, including several special needs children. Her experience with the health care system includes an interdisciplinary Medicaid program called the Medically Fragile Children's Program, a partnership between South Carolina Medicaid and the Department of Social Services. Ms. Smith serves on the Family Advisory Committee for the Children's Hospital at the Medical University of South Carolina. She has testified at Congressional briefings as well as at the 2007 International Conference of Family Centered Care and at Grand Rounds for medical students and residents at the Medical University of South Carolina.

David Sundwall, MD, is Executive Director of the Utah Department of Health and Commissioner of Health for the State of Utah, appointed in 2005. He also serves on the Utah Commission on Aging and the Utah Cabinet Council on Violence against Women and Families. Dr. Sundwall is the Past President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, serves on its Executive Committee and is a member of its Access Policy Committee. He has held leadership positions with the Pediatric Sub-committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) project on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S., the IOM Workgroup on Oral Health Workforce, the American Clinical Laboratory Association and was Vice President and Medical Director of American Healthcare Systems. Dr. Sundwall's federal government experience includes serving as Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, Assistant Surgeon General in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, and Director of the Health and Human Resources Staff of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. He is a Clinical Professor of Public Health in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he received his medical degree. Dr. Sundwall will serve as vice chair of MACPAC.

Steven Waldren, MD, MS, is Director of the Center for Health Information Technology of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He also serves as co-chair of the Physicians' Electronic Health Records (HER) Coalition, a group of representatives from more than 20 professional medical associations that addresses issues related to health care IT and physician practices. Dr. Walden is a member of the National Quality Forum's HIT Measure Steering Committee, vice chair of the American Society for Testing Materials' E31 Health Information Standards Committee and board chair of the Center for Improving Medication Management. He received his medical degree from the Kansas School of Medicine and his Master of Science in health care informatics from the University of Missouri, Columbia.