SPEAKERS

April Abrahamson
Executive Director, Medicaid Line
COLORADO ACCESS
April Abrahamson is the Executive Director for Medicaid at Colorado Access, a non-profit Medicaid and Medicare Managed Care Organization. In this role, she is responsible for implementation and oversight of the Medicaid physical health product lines. April has 18 years of experience in the health insurance and health care industries. She has an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a Masters degree in Health Services Administration from Regis University in Denver. Interesting tidbit: April is a Colorado Native and has a passion for scuba diving.
Deborah Bacharach
President, Bacharach Health Strategies, LLC
Former New York State Medicaid Director
Deborah Bachrach has more than 20 years experience in health policy and financing in the public and private sector.  She currently serves as President of Bachrach Health Strategies LLC, a health care consulting firm that provides policy analysis and strategic guidance to providers, healthcare companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations and foundations.  She assists clients in anticipating and responding effectively to emerging trends in Medicaid and other public health insurance programs.

From 2007-2010, Ms. Bachrach served as New York's Medicaid Director and Deputy commissioner of Health for the Office of Health Insurance Programs.  In this position, she was responsible for coverage, care and payment policies for over 4 million children and adults enrolled in New York's Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Programs. Under her leadership, New York State expanded eligibility levels, streamlined coverage rules and reformed its payment policies.  Ms. Bachrach also represented the Governor in national health reform discussions.

From 1992 through 2006, Ms. Bachrach was a partner at the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips where she co-chaired the Health Care Practice Group.  She provided legislative, regulatory and strategic counsel to academic medical centers, community hospitals, community health centers, health plans and other health care companies.

Between 1987 and 1992, Ms. Bachrach served as Vice President, External Affair at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.  Before joining the hospital, she served for four years as Chief Assistant Attorney General in the Office of NYS Attorney General Robert Abrams where she oversaw the work of the Public Advocacy Division and for three years as Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau.  Ms. Bachrach has published numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on the administration and effectiveness of Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program.

She graduated with honors from the NYU School of Law and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Hazel Becker
Senior Advisor
MARK FARRAH ASSOCIATES
Hazel Becker, a Senior Advisor at Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), has contributed significantly to insightful market analyses that explain changes and trends in health insurance markets.  She is the lead analyst and writer for MFA’s Medicare Advantage State Overview and is currently analyzing Medicaid markets and health plan competition in this segment.  Hazel’s background combines journalism and investigative reporting with a passion for research and analysis.

Previously, she served as Market Research Project Manager for BNA Inc., a Washington, D.C.-area publisher, and Product Development Manager for BNA’s tax and accounting product lines.
Shawn Boice
Clinical Operations Manager
GROUP HEALTH COOPERATIVE, WASHINGTON

Shawn Boice lead Group Health Cooperative's pilot clinic of the Medical Home Model using lean processes, which resulted in dramatic increases in satisfaction and HEDIS scores.  Her team received national attention for their work which was featured on CNN, in the New York Times and at the White House.

Debora Bonin
Vice President of Clinical Operations
NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH PLAN OF MASSACHUSETTS
Debora Bonin, RN, MBA is the Vice President of Clinical Operations at Neighborhood Health Plan in Boston, Massachusetts.  Neighborhood Health Plan is one of Massachusetts’ leading managed care organizations, serves more than 225,000 members through its Medicaid, Commercial and Commonwealth Care products and is currently ranked #4 nationally for Medicaid by NCQA.  In this role she is responsible for integrating the operations of a comprehensive array on internally administered and vendor delivered medical management services. 

Deb received her BSN from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and an MBA from Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.  She has practiced in multiple health care settings in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, and New Mexico. 

Deb was certified in Emergency Nursing in 1986 and 1990 and has over 20 years of experience in Managed Care, including progressive positions in health center operations, Utilization Management, Disease and Case Management leadership. She has presented at regional and national conferences on Case Management, Vulnerable Populations and Predictive Modeling programs.  She is a member of the Case Management Society of America.
Jennifer J. Bowdoin
Project Manager
RHODE ISLAND CHRONIC CARE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE
Jennifer Bowdoin is the Project Manager for the Rhode Island Chronic Care Sustainability Initiative, a multi-payer demonstration of the Patient-Centered Medical Home. In this role, she coordinates and executes the day-to-day operations of the project, promotes stakeholder engagement in the project, and coordinates the activities of a diverse coalition of public and private payers, state agencies, large employers, primary care practices, professional societies, and trade associations. Ms. Bowdoin also serves as an instructor at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and provides grant writing, program evaluation, and data analysis support to various non-profit and health care organizations in Rhode Island.

Ms. Bowdoin earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, holds a Master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Rhode Island, and is a doctoral candidate in Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interests include ambulatory care quality improvement, the use of predictive modeling in Medicaid, the impact of Medicaid managed care on quality of life for adults with disabilities, and long-term care for the elderly.
Rosemarie Day
Deputy Director & COO
COMMONWEALTH INSURANCE CONNECTOR AUTHORITY

Rosemarie Day joined the Connector as its second hire in July of 2006.  As Deputy Director & COO, she has developed the operational strategy to implement many of the key pieces of Massachusetts’ landmark health care reform legislation.  Prior to joining the Connector, Day served as Chief of Staff to the Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. 

Day brings over 12 years of leadership experience in Massachusetts state government to the Connector.  She served as the Chief Operating Officer for the MassHealth program which provides Medicaid coverage to 1 million people in Massachusetts.  Prior to that, she ran the state’s Child Support Enforcement Program, served as an Assistant Secretary of Administration and Finance, and was the Budget Director for the Department of Transitional Assistance.

Rosemarie Day graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School in 1992 with a Master in Public Policy.  She holds an AB in Public Policy from Stanford University.  She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with her husband and three children.

Paul Duncan
Professor and Chairman, Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, University of Florida and Interim Director
FLORIDA CENTER FOR MEDICAID AND THE UNINSURED
Paul Duncan has been a faculty member at the University of Florida since 1979. He currently serves as the Director of the Florida Center for Medicaid and the Uninsured, and is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy in the College of Public Health and Health Professions. His teaching assignments are targeted to the training of health services administration professionals focused on the challenges of administrative leadership in health care organizations, as well as doctoral level trainees focused on studying and understanding how the health care system works.

Dr. Duncan is a nationally prominent health services researcher, best known for his studies of access to various forms of medical and dental care. In recent years, much of his work has focused on health insurance and the uninsured. Between 1999 and 2003, he served as Principal Investigator for three major surveys examining health insurance circumstances in Florida, Indiana, and Kansas. In 2004, Florida completed a replication of the Florida Health Insurance Study under Dr. Duncan's leadership. His current research includes a five-year contract with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to conduct an independent evaluation of the implementation of, and outcomes related to, Florida's Medicaid reform initiative.

Dr. Duncan has published widely...about 100 peer-reviewed articles...including papers in such prominent journals as Medical Care, and Health Affairs.

In 1996, 1997, and 1998, Dr. Duncan was selected Teacher of the Year by the department's graduate students. In 2008 he was named a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor.

When not teaching or doing research, Duncan takes his interests into the community. He has been a member and chair of the Health Care Board of Alachua County, Florida. For almost ten years, he served on the Board of Directors, and was twice elected President of the ACORN Clinic, an award winning medical and dental care clinic that serves poor and uninsured rural residents in the areas north of his home in Gainesville, Florida.
LuAnne Farrah
President
MARK FARRAH ASSOCIATES
As President and Managing Partner of Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), LuAnne R. Farrah, is an influential thought leader with expertise in health insurance business analysis.  LuAnne directed the development of MFA’s innovative database products with applied market analytics.  She has established strategic alliances and partnerships with healthcare companies and trade associations to support product and business development.  With extensive experience in data mining, market research and competitive intelligence, LuAnne brings an energetic, visionary and motivational mindset to MFA.

Prior to incorporating MFA, LuAnne directed research and analysis for a leading health insurance company.
Greta Felton
Director of the Certification Support Division, State of Alabama
Steve Fitton
Medicaid Director
State of Michigan
Jim Frogue
Vice President and Director of State Policy
CENTER FOR HEALTH TRANSFORMATION
Jim Frogue serves as the Center for Health Transformation’s chief liaison to state policy projects. His primary areas of focus are Medicaid, consumerism and fraud. Prior to joining the Center in 2005, Mr. Frogue was for three years Director of the Health and Human Services Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council where he coordinated the development and dissemination of market-oriented health policies among state legislators from 45 states. Mr. Frogue also has served three Members of Congress, most recently as Legislative Director for Congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas. He also spent two years as the healthcare policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Mr. Frogue has twice testified to Congress – Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, - and state legislatures in Missouri, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, Alaska, and Georgia, as well as to the Medicaid Commission, the Western Governors' Association, and to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Importation Task Force. He also was appointed by Speaker William J. Howell to the Virginia Council on Human Resources and will serve through 2012. He has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, Fox’s Glenn Beck, CNBC’s Bullseye and Power Lunch, and countless radio shows including NPR’s The Diane Rehm show, All Things Considered, On Point, and the Kaiser Network’s “Ask the Experts” webcast. Mr. Frogue’s op-eds have appeared in Roll Call, The Hill, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chicago Sun Times, the Washington Times, Birmingham News, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Modern Healthcare and Health Care News. Jim holds a Master of Philosophy degree from Cambridge University and a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of Southern California.
Larry Heyeck
Deputy Director, Medical Assistance Division
NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
Diane Houston-Crocket
Associate Vice Presdient, Health Promotion
AMERIGROUP
John Kaelin
Senior Vice President, State Program Development
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
Ruth Kennedy
CHIP Director
STATE OF LOUISIANA
Ann Clemency Kohler
Executive Director
NASDM-National Association Of State Medicaid Directors

Ann Clemency Kohler began her career in healthcare administration in 1979 with the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and rose through the ranks to the position of Deputy Director in 1993.  She left state government for a short time to develop and coordinate health insurance products for a health maintenance organization (HMO).

Returning to state government in 1996, Ann was the Medicaid Director for the State of New York, the largest Medicaid agency in the country.  In 2000, Ms. Kohler returned to New Jersey and was appointed to a management position in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  While at OMB, she was responsible for the oversight of the budget and fiscal operations for both the Departments of Human Services and Health and Senior Services.  She was also the contract manager for the Federal maximization and program efficiency contracts that generated millions in federal revenue.  Ann was appointed Director of the New Jersey Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS) in 2002. 

Ann was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Human Services in March 2007 where she had oversight for the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, the Division of Disability Services, the Office of Budget Planning and the Office of Finance.  During this time, Ann served as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NASMD), Chair of both the Long Term Care Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the Quality TAG for the Association of Public Health Services Administration (APHSA), as well as, a member of the Medicare Modernization Act State Workgroup.

Ann joined the American Public Human Services Association in July 2008. As head of the Health Services Unit, Ann serves as Executive Director of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors.  Ms. Kohler received her Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as, a Masters in City and Regional Policy from Rutgers, the State University.

David C. Kumpf
CEO
Optimetra
Dave is the founder and CEO of Optimetra, Inc.  He is a key consultant for the firm, focused on public sector healthcare business development, including strategy development, operational solution planning and development; project management; writing and editing; and independent evaluation of proposal responses.  He is also a certified Project Mangement Professional with extensive experience in planning and managing large-scale business implementation.

Dave's current and past client projects include:

* Medicaid managed care business development, including proposal leadership, development and evaluation
*Medicaid Management Information System proposal and project plan development
*TRICARE proposal leadership and development
*Implementation planning and project management
*Acquisition integration project management
*Development & deployment of healthcare project management methodologies and training

Dave is resonsible for all aspects of Optimetra's continued growth and key decision making including: corporate strategy; client relationship building, and hiring decisions.

Prior to founding Optimetra, Dave held positions with Foundation Health Systems, Inc. as Director of Process Engineering and Director of Business Projects.  He was also President and co-founder of Lexicon Systems, Inc., a consulting firm focused on information design and development; documentation management; and project management.

Matthew Mellor
Founding Partner
STRENNUS
Beth Nelson
Manager, Strategic Development
BLUECROSS BLUESHILED OF MINNESOTA
Kathleen O'Guin
Director of Public Relations
MOLINA HEALTHCARE
Kathleen O'Guin is currently the Director of Public Relations at Molina Healthcare.  She has over 25 years' experience in healthcare consulting, hospital and medical group marketing and operations.  Early in her career, she was an operational consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co in Los Angeles and developed the first facility network for the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative in the late 1980s for Behavioral Health Network.  O'Guin has an undergraduate degree in journalism/public relations and a master's in business administration. She is also an adjunct professor in the Healthcare Administration Program at California State University Long Beach.
Shailesh Patel
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategic Initiatives
CNSI

Shailesh Patel has over 22 years of experience with information technology, architecture, product design, and project management. Patel is a Senior Vice President with CNSI (http://ww.cns-inc.com) where he is responsible for leading the company’s Corporate Development and Strategic Initiatives and is specifically engaged in developing new healthcare markets as well as driving CNSI’s Health Information Exchange (HIE) strategy.  He is also actively engaged in CNSI software development projects and specifically with CNSI’s healthcare portfolio. He has served as project director for Medicaid implementations and introduced agile-based systems development life cycle and delivery model for MMIS projects. 

Patel is the architect and vision behind a project collaboration system, As-One, that is part of CNSI’s portfolio of products and services.   Prior to that, Shailesh Patel served in various executive positions at THECENTECH GROUP, Inc. where he was responsible for forming a brand new Enterprise Solutions Division as a result of his achievements in winning business at Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CMS, US Coast Guard, Department of Justice, and several other federal agencies. 

Patel received a Master of Science in Engineering at Catholic University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech.  He is a member of the project management institute a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and is ITIL v3 certified. 

 

Arvinder Singh
Senior VP - HHS Business Unit
CNSI
Arvinder Singh has more than 11 years of experience architecting open, Java-based enterprise applications, including several large-scale government healthcare information systems.  As senior vice president of CNSI’s Health and Human Services division, he is responsible for the ongoing operation and continuing growth of the company’s healthcare business unit and oversees research of new technologies and the integration of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) products to deliver value-added features to the company’s eCAMS® solution line. 

Singh actively participates in health IT special interest groups (SIGs).  A member of the MITA Technical Committee, he is leading a subcommittee on Business Process & Work Flow Standards. In 2006, Federal Computer Week magazine named Singh a “Rising Star” for his efforts in pioneering the industry's first J2EE compliant, Web-centric Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS).
Jill Spencer
Vice President of Business Development, Health Plan Business
HUMAN ARC
Jill Spencer (Vice President of Business Development, Health Plan Business) is an experienced product development, operations and sales leader with executive responsibilities over the firm’s health plan services sales and strategic initiatives.  She joined Human Arc in 2001 with responsibility for the firm’s Dual Eligibility Services, including P&L functions, internal operations, product development, compliance requirements, sales, new client implementation and ongoing process improvement.  In 24 months, Ms. Spencer grew her service line’s revenues over threefold.  To her, the “keys to success” are customer focus, strong relationships with clients, plus a commitment to compassionate, caring contact with client plan members. 

Prior to joining Human Arc, Ms. Spencer was Vice President, Managed Care, for MemberHealth, a Cleveland, Ohio-based pharmacy benefits management firm.  Before that, she served 15 years with Prudential HealthCare in its commercial health plan and Medicare+Choice operations.  She holds a BA degree from Miami University (Oxford, OH) and a number of industry designations: Financial Life Management Institute (FLMI) membership, Associate of Customer Service of the Life Office Management Association (LOMA), and Professional, American Academy of Healthcare Management (PAHM).   She also holds Ohio insurance agent licensure, has served on advisory boards focused on seniors, is a recognized speaker around the industry, and is currently active with community outreach efforts in Greater Cleveland.
Sam Toney, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Health Integrated
Dr. Toney has designed and implemented a number of specialized behavioral health disease and case management programs across the country.  A board-certified psychiatrist, Dr. Toney founded Health Integrated in 1996 in response to the growing need for sophisticated care management systems that address both the medical and behavioral health issues affecting patient care.

He has served as the National Medical Director for a large managed behavioral health organization and has developed a chain of outpatient mental health centers and both multi-specialty IPA and Primary Care Networks throughout the country.  These experiences reinforced his belief that the separation of medical and behavioral care leads to less than optimal clincial outcomes and results in higher costs for payers.  The integration of medical and behavioral care to achieve high-quality clinical care at reduced costs is at the core of the Health Integrated philosophy.  Dr. Toney is licensed to practice medicine in over 14 states and is board certified in Psychiatry as well as in Utilization Review and Quality Assurance.
Ghita Worcester
Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Marketing
UCARE
Ghita Worcester brings more than 30 years of health care management experience to her role as Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Marketing. Since 1995, she has led the firm’s business development, marketing, government programs, legislative affairs, community relations, and provider relations functions. She also has been instrumental in the development and implementation of UCare’s strategic and operational plans.

Before joining UCare, Worcester served as Director of Policy and Operations for Minneapolis-based University Affiliated Family Physicians (UAFP), the management company that started UCare in 1984. In that role, she directed the development of new HMO products and policies, and helped develop and implement HMO strategic and operational plans. Before that, she worked for 13 years in a community-based family medicine residency program operated by the University of Minnesota Department of Family Practice.

Worcester has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has served on several community boards and committees, and is past president of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans.