Panel 3: Health Care Coverage in the United States

March 24, 2026
12:45 pm-

2:00 pm

This panel offers a high-level overview of the major health care coverage programs in the United States, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and employer-sponsored insurance. Tailored for congressional staff, the discussion will explore the history and evolution of these programs, their beneficiaries, and the ways in which they interact. Additionally, the panel will address recent changes to coverage and their implications, equipping staff with a comprehensive understanding to support informed policymaking and constituent services.

Speakers:

  • Moderator: Debbie Curtis, Principal, McDermott+
  • Kate Massey, MPA, Executive Director, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC)
  • Paul Masi, MPP, Executive Director, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)
  • Jason Levitis, J.D., Senior Fellow, Urban Institute 
  • Sabrina Corlette, J.D., Founder and Co-Director, Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy

Speakers

Debbie Curtis

Principal, McDermott+
Debbie is a highly respected health policy authority who helps clients advance their missions in Congress and beyond. With more than three decades of experience working both on the Hill and with the health insurance exchange marketplace, she helps clients execute payment strategy, see around the corner on policy and regulatory changes, and pursue effective advocacy. In addition, Debbie has deep experience working closely with payers, industry stakeholders and government officials at the federal, state and local levels. During her 24 years as a Congressional Staffer, Debbie served most recently in a joint position as Chief of Staff to US Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), and as a professional staff member on the US House of Representatives Committee on Ways & Means, Health Subcommittee. Debbie was integrally involved in the creation and movement of health legislation through the committee, with a focus on improving and protecting Medicare. She was a key staffer in the development of the Affordable Care Act, and worked closely with the Administration and other Congressional committees and Leadership on the implementation of the law. Debbie joins M+ from the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority, where she was part of the founding team that established and operated DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s online state-based health insurance exchange marketplace. In that capacity, she worked closely with stakeholders, advocates and government officials at the local and federal levels and led the Authority’s interactions with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Kate Massey, MPA

Executive Director, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
Kate Massey, MPA, is the executive director of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). Before joining MACPAC, she was senior deputy director for the Behavioral and Physical Health and Aging Services Administration with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Massey has over 20 years of operational and policy expertise in Medicaid, Medicare, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and private market health insurance. She has Medicaid managed care experience previously serving as chief executive officer for Magellan Complete Care of Virginia and vice president for Medicaid and Medicare and government relations for Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. Massey’s policy experience spans private and government sectors. She worked for Amerigroup, where she established its Public Policy Institute and served as executive director. Prior, she served as unit chief of the Low-Income Health Programs and Prescription Drugs Unit in the Congressional Budget Office and led a team focused on Medicaid, CHIP, and private health insurance market programs at the Office of Management and Budget.

Paul Masi, MPP

Executive Director, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)
Paul B. Masi is the Executive Director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a nonpartisan federal commission that advises the U.S. Congress on Medicare payment, quality, and access issues. Prior to his current role at MedPAC, Mr. Masi served as the Unit Chief of the Health Systems and Medicare Cost Estimates Unit at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), where he led an analytic team in producing baseline projections of Medicare spending, estimating the federal budgetary effects of legislation affecting Medicare, and providing technical assistance on legislation under consideration by the Congress. Mr. Masi previously served as MedPAC’s assistant director, a principal analyst at the CBO, and a research associate at The Urban Institute. He earned an M.P.P. from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College.

Jason Levitis, J.D.

Senior Fellow, Urban Institute
Jason Levitis is an expert on private health insurance, the Affordable Care Act, and the intersection of health and tax law. He has published dozens of reports on topics including the premium tax credit, health reimbursement arrangements, health insurance Marketplaces, facilitated enrollment programs, section 1332 state innovation waivers, and basic health programs. He also provides wide-ranging technical assistance to federal and state policymaker, health care researchers, litigators, and others. From 2009 to 2017, he served at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he helped develop the ACA and then led implementation of the ACA’s tax provisions.

Sabrina Corlette, J.D.

Founder and Co-Director, Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy
Sabrina Corlette, J.D. is a research professor, founder, and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. At CHIR she directs research on health reform issues, with a focus on state and federal regulation of private health insurance. She provides expertise and strategic advice to individuals and organizations on health insurance laws and programs and provides technical support through the publication of resource guides, white papers, issue briefs, blog posts and fact sheets. She has testified numerous times before the U.S. Congress and is frequently quoted in the news media on emerging health care issues. She has published dozens of papers relating to the regulation of private health insurance and health insurance marketplaces. Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Ms. Corlette was Director of Health Policy Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she provided policy expertise and direction for the organization’s advocacy on health care reform. From 1997 to 2001, Ms. Corlette worked for the U.S. Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, where she served as health legislative assistant to Senator Tom Harkin. After leaving the Hill, Ms. Corlette served as an attorney at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she advised clients on health care law and policy. Ms. Corlette is a member of the D.C. Bar and received her J.D. with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin and her undergraduate degree with honors from Harvard University.
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