GAO Makes MACPAC Appointments, Designates Chair
WASHINGTON, DC (December 16, 2015) – Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of seven new members to the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). He also named the Commission’s Chair.
“The seven men and women designated to serve on the Commission bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role of advising Congress on Medicaid and CHIP,” Dodaro said. “This round of appointments drew some extremely well-qualified applicants, and I’m pleased to announce these latest selections for MACPAC.”
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.
The newly appointed members are Brian Burwell, Toby Douglas, Leanna George, Kit Gorton, Stacey Lampkin, Penny Thompson, and Alan Weil. Sara Rosenbaum has been named the Commission’s Chair. Brief biographies of the new commission members follow:
Brian Burwell, Vice President, Community Living Systems, Truven Health Analytics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Burwell conducts research, consulting, policy analysis, and technical assistance in the areas of the financing and delivery of long-term services and supports as well as data analysis related to integrated care models for dual eligibles and managed long-term services and supports. He has been with Truven Health Analytics and its predecessor companies for 30 years. Mr. Burwell received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College.
Toby J. Douglas, MPP, MPH, is an independent consultant and Senior Advisor for Sellers Dorsey, assisting organizations involved with Medicaid, health insurance exchanges, and Medicare. Previously, he served as the Director of the California Department of Health Care Services and Medicaid Director during which time he also served as a Board Member of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. Prior to working for the state of California, Mr. Douglas worked for the San Mateo County Health Department in California and was a consultant with Kaiser Permanente Consulting on pharmacy utilization. He received his MPP and MPH from the University of California at Berkeley.
Leanna George is the parent of a 13-year old with a disability who is covered under Medicaid and a 9-year old covered under CHIP. A resident of Benson, North Carolina, Ms. George volunteers on the Johnston County Consumer and Family Advisory Committee, which advises the Board of the County Mental Health Center. She also serves on the Alliance Innovations Stakeholders Group, which advises a Medicaid managed care organization and the state of North Carolina about services and coverage for developmentally disabled enrollees, and on the Client Rights Committee of the Autism Society of North Carolina, a Medicaid provider agency. Ms. George is filling a vacancy on the commission, and her current term is for two years.
Christopher P. (Kit) Gorton, MD, MHSA, is the President of Public Plans at Tufts Health Plan, a nonprofit health plan in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Previously, Dr. Gorton was Chief Executive Officer of a regional health plan that was acquired by the Inova Health System of Falls Church, Virginia. Other positions have included Vice President for Medical Management and Worldwide Healthcare Strategy for Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services and President and Chief Medical Officer for APS Healthcare, a behavioral health plan and care management organization based in Silver Spring, Maryland. After beginning his career as a practicing pediatrician in federally qualified health centers in Pennsylvania and Missouri, Dr. Gorton served as Chief Medical Officer in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Dr. Gorton received his degree in medicine from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and his MHSA from the College of Saint Francis in Joliet, Illinois.
Stacey Lampkin, FSA, MAAA, MPA, is an Actuary and Principal with Mercer Government Human Services Consulting in Phoenix, Arizona, where she has led actuarial work for several state Medicaid programs. She previously served as Actuary and Assistant Deputy Secretary for Medicaid Finance and Analytics at Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, and as an Actuary at Milliman. She has also served as a member of the Federal Health Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries (AAA), as Vice Chairperson of AAA’s Uninsured Work Group, and as a member of the Society of Actuaries Project Oversight Group for research on evaluating medical management interventions. Ms. Lampkin is a fellow in the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She received her Master of Public Administration from Florida State University.
Penny R. Thompson, MPA, is principal of Penny Thompson Consulting, LLC, and provides consulting services in the areas of health care delivery and payments, information technology development, and program integrity. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Ms. Thompson has held senior positions in management consulting at information technology companies, including the Director of Healthcare Strategy and Planning for Hewlett-Packard's healthcare business unit. In addition, she previously served as CMS's Director of Program Integrity and as Chief of the Health Care Branch within the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Thompson received her MPA from George Washington University.
Alan Weil, JD, MPP is Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, a multi-disciplinary peer-reviewed health policy journal, in Bethesda, Maryland. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) and served six years on its Board on Health Care Services. He is a trustee of the Consumer Health Foundation and a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. He previously served as the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, the director of the Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism Project, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and assistant general counsel in the Massachusetts Department of Medical Security. He received a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a JD from Harvard Law School.
Dodaro expressed his appreciation for the efforts of outgoing chair Diane Rowland, saying, “Diane served as chair during the commission’s critical start-up phase, and I want to thank her for her dedication and service over these past six years.”
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, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan and formerly 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.
Commissioners whose terms will expire in December 2017, are Gustavo Cruz, DMD, MPH, Senior Advisor, Health Equity Initiative in New York, New York; Marsha Gold, ScD, Senior Fellow Emeritus at Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, DC; Charles (Chuck) Milligan, JD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of United Healthcare Community Plan of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sheldon Retchin, MD, MSPH, Chief Executive Officer of Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; and Peter Szilagyi, MD, MPH, Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of California at Los Angeles.
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.
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