July 17, 2023

Paragon Featured in Axios Vitals Newsletter

Brian Blase, Drew Gonshorowski, Niklas Kleinworth and Tina Reed

Brian Blase

President at Paragon Health Institute

Brian Blase, Ph.D., is the 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 served as its CEO.

Drew Gonshorowski

Senior Research Fellow at Paragon Health Institute

Drew Gonshorowski is a Senior Research Fellow at Paragon Health Institute. He brings a decade of experience conducting quantitative research and building models examining health policy and entitlement programs.

Niklas Kleinworth

Director, State Health Reform Initiative; and Policy Analyst

Niklas Kleinworth is the Director of the State Health Reform Initiative and a Policy Analyst at the Paragon Health Institute, focusing on Medicaid and state policy initiatives. He has served in state and federal policy roles since 2021.

Tina Reed

On July 17, 2023, the Axios Vitals newsletter by Tina Reed featured The Cost of Good Intentions, a report by Drew Gonshorowski, Brian Blase, and Niklas Kleinworth about the cost of delaying Medicaid redeterminations. From the newsletter:

“Medicaid could have saved upwards of $41 billion if every state had begun removing ineligible enrollees from program rolls when they were first able to in April, according to a report released today from the Paragon Health Institute.

Why it matters: The report from the think tank launched by ex-Trump economic adviser Brian Blase comes as the Biden administration cranks up pressure on states to forestall disenrollments amid concerns that patients still eligible for benefits are being dropped.

As of July 14, roughly 2.2 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled, based on data from 30 states and the District of Columbia compiled KFF’s Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker. More than 75% were disenrolled for procedural reasons, like not completing renewal forms.”

The full article can be found in Axios.

Medicaid

Medicaid Redetermination