EVENT MATERIALS
A conversation with key State Medicaid officials on the redetermination process
Please join us for our third Congressional Health Policy Education Program event. This event will be held online. Please feel free to share this invite with any health care staffer you think would be interested. This event is for full-time staff only.
The briefing will be hosted by Paragon’s Brian Blase and Gary Alexander, who will interview state Medicaid officials on the redetermination process.
Panelists include:
Brian C. Blase, Ph.D. – President of Paragon Health Institute. Brian was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC) from 2017-2019, where he coordinated the development and execution of numerous health policies and advised the President, NEC director, and senior officials. After leaving the White House, Brian founded Blase Policy Strategies and serves as its CEO.
Gary D. Alexander – A nationally recognized health services expert and government reformer, Gary D. Alexander is director of the Medicaid and Health Safety Net Initiative at the Paragon Health Institute. Gary served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Human Services and Rhode Island’s Secretary of Health and Human Services and Medicaid Director. During these tenures, he created structural reforms, including the Medicaid Global Waiver and the Enterprise Program Integrity Initiative, which delivered unprecedented flexibility to redesign Medicaid programs and eradicate fraud and abuse.
Janet Mann, Deputy Secretary of Health and Arkansas State Medicaid Director – Janet has over twenty years’ experience in healthcare and healthcare finance. She has worked in the public and private sector for multiple states and clients. Janet has served as the Division Director for Arkansas Department of Human Service’s Division of Medical Services overseeing the Medicaid operations before and during the beginning of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency until April 2021. She also served as DHS’s Chief Financial Officer for a year in 2017. In addition, Janet was a Deputy Administrator for Medicaid in Mississippi during Governor Haley Barbour’s administration, 2006-2010.
Kelly Garcia, Director of the Iowa Department of Health Human Services (HHS) – Kelly serves as the Director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Garcia to oversee the state’s social services agency in November 2019. She was unanimously confirmed by the Iowa Senate on February 26, 2020. Later that year, Garcia was asked to serve as interim public health Director. As a dual director, Garcia led the agency’s pandemic response, while shepharding consolidation to a single health and human services structure.
After the event, we’ll keep you informed with updates about future events and what Paragon is doing. (If you have questions or don’t want these updates, email us at [email protected].)
