Stephanie Anthony, J.D., MPH, is a veteran of state and federal health care administrations with experience in program design and implementation. She provides research, analysis and advisory services on health policy and health law to public and private sector clients. Clients turn to Stephanie for counsel on health care reform, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) financing, program design and waivers, post-acute care, and long-term services and supports. She also advises on best practices in care management, integrated care models, and coverage options for the uninsured. Before joining Manatt, Stephanie was with the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s (UMMS’s) Center for Health Law and Economics, where she helped Massachusetts become the first state to implement a demonstration program of integrated care for individuals with dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid. Stephanie oversaw strategic planning, policy development and analysis, program design, data analytics, and stakeholder engagement efforts. She was also the lead consultant providing analytic and staff support to Massachusetts’ Long-Term Care Financing Advisory Committee. Prior to UMMS, Stephanie was deputy Medicaid director in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services. A member of the executive management team, she worked with the federal Medicaid oversight agency and was integral to the evelopment and implementation of the Commonwealth’s landmark health care reform law. Stephanie also oversaw CHIP and the MassHealth 1115 Waiver, the primary financing mechanism for the publicly funded health care reform coverage expansions. Stephanie’s government service also includes work as a director of federal and national policy management within EOHHS’s Medicaid office and as a legal advisor and policy analyst for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also was a senior policy analyst for the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Contact: santhony@manatt.com
Lisa Hayes is the executive director for Rolling Start, Inc. a Center for Independent Living serving people with disabilities in San Bernardino, Mono, and Inyo Counties. Prior to serving in the non-profit sector, Lisa worked for over twenty years in healthcare operations and contracting. At Molina Healthcare she held the positions of Associate VP of Managed Long Term Supports and Services and Director of Disability and Senior Access Services where she focused on helping Molina shape its healthcare delivery system to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. As the culture of managed care was evolving to focus on providing person-centered care and more home and community-based supports, Lisa was instrumental in identifying strategic opportunities and developing best practices that contributed to ensuring better care, increased satisfaction of members, and lowering overall healthcare costs. Lisa currently serves as an appointed commissioner of the California State Independent Living Council (SILC) and serves on NCIL’s PAS/healthcare subcommittee. Past service includes six years on the board of an Independent Living Center, three of those as board chair. Lisa holds an AA in Music from Mt. San Antonio College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Biola University.
Contact: lhayes@rollingstart.com
Jonathan Gonzalez-Smith, MPAff, is a research associate at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy where he is responsible for helping lead the Center’s work on international models of accountable care, health financing, global health innovation, and payment and delivery reform. His research evaluates how to support health system transformation at the organizational, regional, national, and international level to achieve better population health while promoting efficiency, equity, and high-quality care. His recent projects include analysis of domestic and global payment reform efforts to support value-based health care models in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; assessing the impact of CMS’ value-based payment programs on small, physician-led ACOs; and helping lead multi-stakeholder collaboratives with policymakers, health care leaders, and practitioners to identify and disseminate best practices for advancing value-based health care models in the U.S. and internationally. Previously, Jonathan worked as the Legislative Director for Texas State Representative Terry Canales and as Program Assistant for the national think-tank Demos. He holds a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas LBJ School and a B.A. in Philosophy and International Relations from Northwestern University.
Contact: jonathan.gonzalez.smith@duke.edu
Jennifer Podulka, M.PAff., principal, Health Management Associates, is a researcher, strategist, and policy adviser with extensive data analysis and project management expertise. Much of her work has focused on physician payment policy, traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, CMS Innovation Center models, the federal budget, and the broader health care system context for Medicare policy. Ms. Podulka earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas, Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in government, also from the University of Texas, Austin.
Contact: jpodulka@healthmanagement.com
Robert Saunders, Ph.D., is research director, Payment and Delivery Reform at Duke-Margolis. In this role, he directs a portfolio of payment and delivery reform initiatives, with projects on topics like ACOs, integrated pain management, alternative payment models for specialty care, improving serious illness care, and translating evidence to policy-relevant options. Prior to joining Duke-Margolis, Dr. Saunders was a Senior Director and then Senior Advisor to the President of the National Quality Forum, where he managed a large federally-funded project on quality measures for federal programs and directed special projects on data, payment reform, systems engineering, and the future of health care quality measurement. He was previously Senior Program Officer at the Institute of Medicine and managed health care legislative affairs for Representative Rush D. Holt. He has a PhD in physics from Duke University, where he focused on improving medical imaging for early stage cancer diagnosis, and an undergraduate degree from William and Mary.
Contact: robert.saunders@duke.edu
Hemi Tewarson, J.D., MPH is the executive director of the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP), a nonpartisan forum of policymakers throughout state governments, learning, leading, and implementing innovative solutions to health policy challenges. Ms. Tewarson joins NASHP from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy where she has been a leader of the Center’s emerging state policy portfolio, including COVID-19 testing and containment, vaccine distribution and education, coverage, and health system reform, Medicaid system improvements, and addressing equity within and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, Ms. Tewarson served as the director of the Health Division at the National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices, overseeing a broad project portfolio including Medicaid transformation and coverage, Medicaid data systems, health care delivery, and payment system reform, workforce, opioids, and behavioral health and social determinants of health. She also served as senior attorney for the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Government Accountability Office addressing Medicaid and related health care topics for members of Congress. Ms. Tewarson holds a JD from George Washington University, an MPH from George Washington University, and a BA in Psychology from, University of Pennsylvania.
Contact: htewarson@nashp.org
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