Panel 3: Health Care Coverage in the United States

March 24, 2026

12:45 pm-

2:00 pm

In Person Event

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+

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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.

Event Resources

Resources:

Experts

Joan Alker, M.Phil

Executive Director, Center for Children and Families, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Shawn Bishop, MPP

Senior Advisor, Akin

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-A respected authority on public policy, federal budgeting, and legislative and regulatory strategy, with over 25 years of experience, with a focus on health care, including as a committee health staff director on Capitol Hill shaping policy on Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and prescription drug pricing and reimbursement issues.

-Former chief health advisor for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, providing strategic counsel to Chairmen Ron Wyden and Max Baucus, and playing a key role in developing and negotiating major health legislation affecting healthcare coverage and reimbursement, delivery system operations and innovation, value and risk assessment, and health outcomes.
Empowers clients to anticipate trends, navigate regulatory risks and opportunities, and drive sustainable policy outcomes that align with their business and organizational goals.

-Shawn’s health policy experience includes assessing the policy and financial implications of legislative initiatives and advising on trends, regulatory risks and opportunities in public and private sectors. Her understanding of federal health programs enables her to deliver high-level advisory and advocacy services to clients and support them in crafting and implementing health policy, managing regulatory challenges and building bipartisan coalitions that foster lasting outcomes.

In her roles on the Senate Finance Committee, Shawn led development of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, as well as legislation on Medicare prescription drug policies, including Senate Finance Committee passage of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 and enactment of the health provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Her analytic roles at the Congressional Budget Office and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services further deepens her ability to bring data-driven insights to advise clients on a range of health policy issues.

Shawn’s career reflects a commitment to bridging policy goals with practical solutions that drive stakeholder value and improve healthcare delivery and outcomes. Her experience working across the aisle, insights and ability to navigate the full spectrum of the policymaking process positions Shawn to advise clients and achieve results on a range of health care issues.

Alice Burns, Ph.D., MPP

Associate Director, Program on Medicaid & Uninsured, KFF

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Alice Burns is an associate director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, where she focuses on overseeing the team’s quantitative research. Prior to joining KFF in 2022, Dr. Burns served as a principal analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. She led the agency’s research using Medicaid claims data and worked on issues related to long-term services and supports, private health insurance, surprise medical bills, and single-payer health care. Before her time at the CBO, she was a consultant with the Lewin Group and a research scientist at the George Washington University Center for Health Policy Research.

Dr. Burns received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a Master of Public Policy from George Washington University, and her Ph.D. in public policy and public administration, also from George Washington University.

James C. Capretta, MA

Senior Fellow and Milton Friedman Chair, American Enterprise Institute

Cynthia Cox, MPH

Senior Vice President and Director of the Program on the ACA and Director of the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, KFF

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Cynthia Cox is senior vice president and director of the Program on the ACA, where she conducts economic and policy research on the Affordable Care Act and its effects on private insurers and enrollees. Her work focuses on enrollment, pricing and competition in the ACA’s exchange markets.

Cox also directs the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, a partnership of the Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF aimed at monitoring the performance of the U.S. health system over time and in relation to other large, high-income countries. Her work on this project focuses on trends in health care costs, access and affordability, as well as measures of health care quality and outcomes.

Prior to joining KFF, she held research and advocacy positions at Columbia University Medical Center and the American Cancer Society. She also served on the board of directors of the Berkeley Free Clinic in California.

Cox holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University.

Paul B. Ginsburg, PhD

Emeritus Fellow, USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy; Founding Director, Physician Payment Review Commission

Katherine Hempstead, PhD

Senior Policy Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Kody H. Kinsley, MPP

Senior Policy Advisor, Institute of Policy Solutions, Johns Hopkins University

Kip Piper, M.A., FACHE

Senior Advisor, Advi; CEO, Health Results Group

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Kip Piper, MA, FACHE, a highly regarded healthcare consultant with 35 years of experience as a policymaker, executive, and consultant. Kip is an expert in Medicaid and Medicare policy, finance, and business and provides strategic counsel, policy and market intelligence, legislative and regulatory analysis, coverage and reimbursement solutions, and technical assistance to organizations across the healthcare industry.
Kip has advised a diverse range of clients, including life sciences companies, long-term care providers and associations, state Medicaid agencies, major health systems, private equity firms and other investors, health insurers, global and boutique consultancies, and law firms.

At the federal level, Kip served as a senior advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, a senior Medicare budget officer at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and a presidential management fellow. In state government, Kip served as Wisconsin’s state Medicaid director, administrator of Wisconsin’s state health agency, and the state public health officer. Kip also developed and directed influential, foundation-sponsored initiatives on value-based purchasing, payment reform, and state-based health reform.

Kip is the founder and CEO of Health Results Group, LLC, a strategic advisory firm, and Medonomics, Inc., a nonprofit health policy research organization dedicated to market-based solutions to improve value and decision-making. Kip is also a senior advisor with ADVI Health, a leading life sciences industry consultancy serving top innovators in cell and gene therapy, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, medical diagnostics, and medical devices.

Board-certified in healthcare management, Kip is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and holds a master’s degree in public policy and administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Kip has drafted and negotiated federal and state legislation, regulations, and waivers. He has testified before U.S. House and Senate committees and state legislative committees, written a dozen journal articles, and been widely quoted in the national and healthcare press.

Kip Piper is a trusted advisor and thought leader. With his vast knowledge and experience, Kip is dedicated to helping organizations navigate the complex Medicaid and Medicare landscape, solve seemingly intractable problems, and achieve their goals.

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