GAO Makes MACPAC Appointments
WASHINGTON, DC (December 19, 2014) – Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of six new members to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) and the designation of the Commission’s new Vice Chair.
“In making today’s appointments, GAO was able to draw from an exceptionally strong group of candidates,” Dodaro said. “The six men and women chosen to serve on the Commission offer important professional credentials and experiences, and their perspectives should greatly benefit MACPAC in advising Congress on Medicaid and CHIP.”
The newly appointed members are Gustavo Cruz, DMD, MPH, Senior Advisor, Health Equity Initiative in New York, NY; Marsha Gold, ScD, Senior Fellow Emeritus at Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, DC; Yvette Long, parent of a Medicaid beneficiary and Case Manager, Philadelphia Welfare Rights Organization, Philadelphia, PA; Charles (Chuck) Milligan, JD, MPH, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Government Programs, Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, NM; Sheldon Retchin, MD, MSPH, recently selected to be the Chief Executive Officer of Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University in Columbus, OH; and Peter Szilagyi, MD, MPH, Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of California at Los Angeles.
In addition, Marsha Gold, ScD has been named the Commission’s Vice Chair.
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.
Commissioners whose terms will expire in December 2015 are Diane Rowland, ScD, Executive Vice President, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured; Donna Checkett, MPA, MSW, Vice President of Medicaid Business Development, Aetna; Patricia Gabow, MD (retired), previously Chief Executive Officer, Denver Health and Hospital Authority; Mark Hoyt, FSA, MAAA (retired), previously National Practice Leader of the Government Human Services Consulting Specialty Group, Mercer, LLC; Trish Riley, MS, incoming Executive Director of the National Academy of State Health Policy; and Steven Waldren, MD, MS, Director, Center for Health Information Technology, American Academy of Family Physicians.
Commissioners whose terms will expire in December 2016 are Sharon L. Carte, MS, Executive Director, West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program; Andrea Cohen, JD, Senior Vice President, United Hospital Fund; Herman Gray, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Vice President of Pediatric Health Services, Vanguard Health Systems; Norma Martinez Rogers, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, Department of Family Nursing, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; and 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 Professor of Health Care Sciences, GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
For more information about MACPAC, contact Anne Schwartz, MACPAC’s executive director, at (202) 350-2000. Other calls should be directed to Chuck Young in GAO’s Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800. The official announcement will be published in the Federal Register. Brief biographies of the new commission members follow.
Gustavo Cruz, DMD, MPH, is Senior Advisor to the Health Equity Initiative, a membership organization in New York City that brings together community leaders and professionals in diverse fields to foster innovation in promoting health equity. Dr. Cruz also serves as the Resident Advisor to the Dental Public Health Residency at Lutheran Medical Center and as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion at the NYU College of Dentistry. He previously served as the Director of Public Health and Health Promotion at the NYU College of Dentistry. His areas of research interest include the effect of immigration on oral health, community-based approaches to preventing early childhood dental cavities, and control of oral cancer. Dr. Cruz received his degree in dentistry from the University of Puerto Rico and his MPH from Columbia University’s School of Public Health.
Marsha Gold, ScD of Washington, D.C. is a Senior Fellow Emeritus at Mathematica Policy Research, where she previously served as a lead investigator and project director on research in the areas of Medicare, Medicaid, managed care design and delivery system reform in both public and private health insurance, and access to care. Other prior positions include Director of Research and Analysis at the Group Health Association of America, Assistant Professor with the Department of Health Policy and Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Director of Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Gold is on the editorial board of Health Affairs and Health Services Research. She received her Doctorate of Science in Health Services and Evaluation Research from Harvard School of Public Health.
Yvette Long of Philadelphia, PA, is the parent of a 16-year old with chronic health issues who is covered by Medicaid. Ms. Long serves as a case manager with the Philadelphia Welfare Rights Organization. She is Chair of the Consumer Subcommittee of the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance Advisory Committee, which advises the state about major initiatives of the Pennsylvania Medicaid program. She is also on the board of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, a statewide board that oversees the administration of the network of legal aid programs in the state.
Charles (Chuck) Milligan, JD, MPH, is Senior Vice President of Enterprise Government Programs at Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, NM, where he is a member of the leadership team focused on delivery system and payment reform efforts at a large integrated delivery system. Mr. Mulligan was a former state Medicaid director in New Mexico and in Maryland. He also previously served as Executive Director of the Hilltop Institute, a health services research center at the University of Maryland, and as Vice President at the Lewin Group. Mr. Mulligan directed the 2005-06 Medicaid Commission and has conducted Medicaid-related research projects in numerous states. He received his MPH from the University of California at Berkeley and his JD from Harvard Law School.
Sheldon Retchin, MD, MSPH, is the Ruth and Seymour Perlin Professor of Medicine and Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was recently selected to be the Executive Vice President for Health Sciences and Chief Executive Officer of the Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. He is leaving his current positions as Chief Executive Officer of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, VA, which includes a large teaching hospital, a faculty practice and a provider-sponsored Medicaid HMO, and as Senior Vice President for Health Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, which includes five health science schools. Dr. Retchin’s research and publications have addressed the costs, quality, and outcomes of care, as well as workforce issues. He received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and his master of science in public health from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
Peter Szilagyi, MD, MPH was recently named Vice Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California at Los Angeles. He previously served as Chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester and as Associate Director of the Center for Community Health within the University of Rochester’s Clinical Translational Research Institute. His research has addressed CHIP and child health insurance, access to care, quality of care, and health outcomes including the delivery of primary care with a focus on immunization delivery, health care financing, and children with chronic disease. He is Editor-in-Chief of Academic Pediatrics and has served as the President of the Academic Pediatric Association. Dr. Szilagyi received his medical and public health degrees from the University of Rochester.
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