BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Sharon Arnold, Ph.D.

Dr. Arnold joined AcademyHealth in May 2003. She is currently a Vice President at AcademyHealth and the director of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) initiative, which is the Foundation's major vehicle for funding investigator-initiated health services research examining major changes in health care financing that have implications for public policy. She also directs National Library of Medicine funded projects on Grey Literature and the development of a set of Core Library Recommendations in Health Services Research. Dr. Arnold provides technical direction on a number of other projects as well, including some AHRQ KT work on care management and a Commonwealth Fund study on administrative costs. Prior to joining AcademyHealth, she worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she directed Medicare payment demonstrations and the implementation of risk adjustment for health plan payments. Her prior experience includes work at CMS' Office of Legislation and at the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission.

Melanie Bella, MBA

Melanie Bella, vice president for policy at the Center for Health Care Strategies ( CHCS ), leads CHCS ' efforts to improve the quality of care for people with chronic illness and disabilities, including work on chronic disease management, managed long-term care, and special needs health plans for dual-eligible beneficiaries.

Prior to CHCS, Ms. Bella served as Medicaid director for the state of Indiana from 2001 through 2005, overseeing an annual operating budget of over $4.7 billion for a program serving more than 844,000 low-income and disabled Hoosiers. During her tenure as Medicaid director, one of Ms. Bella's most notable accomplishments was the Indiana Chronic Disease Management Program. In 2003, that effort attracted national acclaim for Ms. Bella and Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Gregory Wilson, who were honored with the “Vision Award” from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Improving Chronic Illness Care program.

Ms. Bella is a voting member of the Medicaid Advisory Commission established by the Department of Health and Human Services and serves as a health care advisor to the Kennedy School of Government's Innovations in American Government Awards Program. She has served as a member of the National Academy of State Health Policy and on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors. She earned a master's in business administration from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree from DePauw University.

Alice Burton

Alice Burton is Vice President at AcademyHealth, where she leads The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) program and AcademyHealth's work with states. She works with state policy leaders to develop strategies to improve insurance coverage and has participated in numerous taskforces on the uninsured—both as a member and an advisor. She contributes regularly to publications for states on health coverage.

Previously, Ms. Burton was the director of the planning administration at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In that role, she was responsible for developing policy initiatives for the Maryland Medicaid program, the Maryland Children's Health Insurance program and other health care financing programs. She developed and oversaw the HealthChoice Evaluation, the state's first comprehensive evaluation of its Medicaid managed care program and worked to implement recommendations coming out of that report. She also served as a leader for Maryland 's Health Resources and Services Administration Planning Grant on the uninsured.

Ms. Burton is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and holds a master's degree in health policy from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D.

Stuart M. Butler is Vice-President for Domestic and Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation in Washington DC. He plans and oversees the Foundation's research and publications on all domestic issues. He has been with Heritage since 1979 and is an expert on health, welfare and Social Security policy. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Graduate School and in 2002 he was a Fellow at Harvard University 's Institute of Politics.

Dr Butler has played a prominent role in the debate over Medicare, health care for working Americans, and Social Security reform, arguing for solutions based on individual choice and market competition. He has written extensively on these issues and has testified frequently before Congress on a broad range of issues.

Stuart Butler was born in Shrewsbury, England. He emigrated to the United States in 1975 and became an American citizen in 1995. He was educated at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics in 1968, a master's degree in economics and history in 1971, and a Ph.D. in American economic history in 1978. He is married with two daughters, and resides in Washington, DC.

Deborah Chollet, Ph.D.

Deborah Chollet is a Senior Fellow at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, DC. Dr. Chollet conducts and manages research on private health insurance coverage, markets and regulation, including employer-sponsored health plans for workers and retirees, individual health insurance, and Medicare supplement plans. She regularly provides direct technical assistance to states on matters related to private health insurance coverage and markets. She is a senior consultant to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives program, and currently serves on the editorial boards of Benefits Quarterly, the Journal of Insurance Issues, and Health Administration Press. Her previous positions include Vice President of Alpha Center (now AcademyHealth); Director of the Center for Risk Management and Insurance Research and Associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at Georgia State University; Senior Researcher at the Employee Benefit Research Institute; and Assistant Professor of Economics at Temple University. Dr. Chollet holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Pamela S. Dickson, M.B.A.

Pamela S. Dickson is the Deputy Director for the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and interim team leader for the Coverage Team. She previously served as team leader for the Disparities Team. Her program activities since joining the Foundation in 1997 have focused on increasing access and quality of care for all Americans with a particular emphasis on reducing racial and ethnic disparities. Before joining the Foundation, Ms. Dickson held several senior positions at the New Jersey Department of Health. As Assistant Commissioner from 1988 through 1994, she supervised the all-payer hospital rate-setting system and the health planning program. As Director of Health Care Reform Initiatives, she coordinated efforts among the Governor's Office, The Department of Health, The Department of Human Services and The Department of Insurance to implement New Jersey 's 1993 Health Care and Insurance Reform Legislation.

Ms. Dickson has held positions as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Health Data Organizations and of the Access for the Uninsured Steering Committee of The National Academy for State Health Policy. She holds an M.B.A. in Health Care Administration from the Wharton School of Business.

Lowell Gordon, M.D.

As Medical Director of the Medical Assistance Division, New Mexico Human Services Department, Dr. Gordon participates in policy development for several of the Governor's initiatives including facilitating access to employer based group health insurance and improving health care access through adoption of telehealth technology. Dr. Gordon's other duties include a primary oversight role for ensuring quality of care for the delegated managed care organizations and for the utilization management contractor for the fee-for-service population.  Dr. Gordon also works closely with the Envision program--a coordinated disease management effort focusing on changing primary care practitioner's approach to managing childhood obesity--by serving on the program's advisory board. 

Dr. Gordon is a board certified pediatrician and also holds an MBA degree from Berkeley.  Prior to Medicaid, he has served in various roles including CFO of a non-profit primary care clinic, Executive Director of a physician-hospital organization, health care consultant with Ernst & Young and Medical Director of an HMO.

Edmund F. Haislmaier

Edmund F. Haislmaier is a nationally recognized expert in health care policy and markets. Since 1998, he has served as president of Strategic Policy Management, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy consulting firm.

Earlier (1994-1998), he served as the director of health care policy in the Corporate Strategic Planning and Policy division of Pfizer, Inc. Prior to that (1987-1994), he was the senior policy analyst for health care issues at The Heritage Foundation.

Mr. Haislmaier is the author of numerous papers on health care financing topics including; health care tax policy, employer-based and individual health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, foreign health systems, long-term care and health care price controls.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research, and co-founder and Vice President of Omnis Development Group, LLC, a business software firm. Haislmaier holds a B.A. in History from St. Mary's College of Maryland.

W. David Helms, Ph.D.

Dr. Helms is President and CEO of AcademyHealth, formed in 2000 from the merger of the Association for Health Services Research (AHSR) and the Alpha Center. AcademyHealth serves as the professional society for the fields of health services research and health policy. Its programs are dedicated to stimulating the development, understanding, and use of the best available health services research and health policy information by public and private decision makers.

In addition to leading AcademyHealth, Dr. Helms serves as President and CEO of the Coalition for Health Services, AcademyHealth's advocacy arm. The Coalition provides a unified voice for enhanced federal funding of health services research and data to inform health policy and practice.

Dr. Helms serves as project director for AcademyHealth's contract with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for knowledge transfer and application initiatives. He also serves as a senior advisor to two AcademyHealth national programs sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The RWJF Health Care Financing & Organization Program provides funding for investigator-initiated research on health care financing and the RWJF State Coverage Initiatives Program provides support to states to address pressing health coverage and access problems.

Dr. Helms is frequently invited to facilitate consensus processes on health policy issues and on the development of research agendas. He also serves on a number of health related boards and advisory committees.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Helms founded and directed the Alpha Center where he was president from 1976-2000. The Alpha Center was a non-partisan, non-profit health policy center that provided expert technical assistance, objective analysis and research, and comprehensive education and facilitation services.

Dr. Helms received his doctorate in public administration and economics in 1979 from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Jeanne Lambrew, Ph.D.

Jeanne Lambrew is an associate professor at George Washington University, where she teaches health policy analysis and conducts policy-relevant research. She has assisted with Medicare prescription drug legislation, various proposals to build on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and a health reform plan recently announced by the Governor of Maine.

Dr. Lambrew worked on health policy at the White House from 1997 through 2001, as the program associate director for health at the Office of Management and Budget and as the senior health analyst at the National Economic Council. She was the White House lead on drafting and implementing the State Children's Health Insurance Program and helped develop the President's Medicare reform plan, initiative on long-term care, and other health care proposals. She currently is on UNC's Rural Health Advisory Committee, is a research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and is on the Advocacy Committee for AcademyHealth.

Dr. Lambrew received her baccalaureate degree from Amherst College and her master's and Ph.D. from the Department of Health Policy, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Amy Lischko

Ms. Lischko has over fifteen years of experience working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at the Department of Public Health, the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. She has a Master's degree in Health Policy and Management and extensive experience in health services research, policy analysis and program evaluation. Ms. Lischko has managed numerous health research and policy projects for the state of Massachusetts and has overseen various activities including the state's survey of health insurance status, evaluations of health care reform in Massachusetts and the state's HRSA grants to evaluate options for expanding health insurance coverage. She has played a very active role in the current administration's health care reform agenda including helping to draft the governor's legislation and launching the state's first consumer website containing comparative information on the costs and quality of providers in Massachusetts. Ms. Lishcko is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in health services at Boston University on a part-time basis.

Anthony T. Lo Sasso, Ph.D.

Dr. Lo Sasso is an economist and applied econometrician whose research spans several dimensions of health and labor economics and health services research. He is currently in the final year of a 5-year Independent Scientist Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality studying workplace health benefits and how they affect employee health. As part of this broad research agenda, Dr. Lo Sasso has recently completed a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to examine the impact of an expansion of mental health benefits on cost and quality of care at a Fortune 50 manufacturing firm. In addition, Dr. Lo Sasso is currently studying the nascent consumer-driven health care movement and its potential impact on employer-sponsored health insurance and employee health. Other recent research has examined the effect of copayment levels on the use of employer-provided substance abuse benefits. Additionally, he has explored the extent of so-called “responsible purchasing” by employers: the degree to which employers collect and use non-financial information in selecting and managing employee health care plans. Dr. Lo Sasso is also keenly interested in how government policies affect private sector decisions. He has studied the impact of the State Children's Health Insurance Program on uninsurance among children and the extent to which public coverage may have “crowded out” private coverage of children. He currently has a grant to study how community rating provisions in state non-group health insurance markets affect non-group health insurance coverage and uninsurance. Dr. Lo Sasso also has recently completed a project funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization initiative to study how the availability of safety net health care services affects the willingness of firms to offer health insurance and the willingness of employees to take-up health insurance when it is offered.

Enrique Martinez-Vidal

Enrique Martinez-Vidal joined AcademyHealth in February 2005 as the deputy director of the State Health Policy Group and the deputy director of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) program. Previously Mr. Martinez-Vidal was the deputy director for performance and benefits at the Maryland Health Care Commission, an independent state agency. There he was responsible for the oversight of Maryland's small group insurance market reforms; the annual evaluation of Maryland's mandated health insurance benefits; the collection and public dissemination of quality and performance information for hospitals, nursing homes and health plans; providing primary assistance on all legislative issues; and working on numerous other projects related to the affordability of health care, quality improvement, and patient safety.

Mr. Martinez-Vidal was formerly a policy analyst with the Maryland Department of Legislative Services for five years. During that time he staffed the House Economic Matters Committee and was involved with a number of health-care related issues. He has a B.A. in political science and international studies from Dickinson College and a master's degree in public policy from Georgetown University.

Len Nichols, Ph.D.

Len Nichols, a highly respected healthcare economist, directs the Health Policy Program at the New America Foundation, which aims to expand health insurance coverage to all Americans while reigning in costs and improving the efficiency of the overall health care system. Before joining New America, Dr. Nichols was the Vice President of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a Principal Research Associate at the Urban Institute, and the Senior Advisor for Health Policy at the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton reform efforts of 1993-94. He has testified frequently before Congress and state legislators and has published widely in a variety of health related journals.

Previously, Dr. Nichols was Chair of the Economics Department at Wellesley College, where he taught for 10 years. He also served as a member of the Competitive Pricing Advisory Commission (CPAC) and the 2001 Technical Review Panel for the Medicare Trustees Reports. He was on the advisory panel to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Covering America project and has been a consultant to the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the Pan American Health Organization. Dr. Nichols received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois.

Michael G. Pernaselli

Michael Pernaselli is a Sales Executive for Definity Health, a United Health Group company. Mr. Pernaselli has over 15 years experience in the healthcare business. In his current position at Definity Health, Mr. Pernaselli works collaboratively with group health sales and account management colleagues to maximize potential consumer-directed business opportunities with existing and prospective corporate clients.

Recognized for his expertise in the Consumer-Directed Health (CDH) market,

Mr. Pernaselli routinely participates in broker symposiums and Human Resource forums to lead discussions focusing on consumerism including market trends and strategic considerations for effective design and communication of CDH programs.

Prior to joining Definity Health, Mr. Pernaselli served as a Strategic Account Executive working with large-sized multi-site employer groups. Mr. Pernaselli has also held various management roles within claim and call center service operations.

Sally K. Richardson

Sally Richardson is the Executive Director for the Institute for Health Policy Research at West Virginia University. She has been at the Institute since its inception in 1999 and was the driving force behind the creation of the Institute. In addition to this role, she is also an associate vice president for the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University. She is responsible for the management and direction of all aspects of the Institute's work. She oversees the completion of all project activities and serves as principal investigator of many projects.

Prior to this endeavor, Professor Richardson was with the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) from 1993 -1999. She was director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, responsible for all Medicaid policy and operations, the Medicare Survey and Certification Program, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability operations, the Children's Health Insurance Program, Medigap policy, and HCFA's intergovernmental relations. In addition, she served for a year as HCFA's deputy administrator and for three years as the head of its Medicaid Bureau. During her tenure at HCFA, she represented the agency on a variety of departmental and White House working groups. In early 1993, on leave of absence from the state of West Virginia, she served as a member of the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform. Before her service with the federal government, she held several positions in West Virginia 's state government. These include director of Public Employees Insurance Agency (1989-1993), chair of the Health Care Cost Review Authority (1983-1985), deputy director of the Department of Health (1979-1983), and the assistant commissioner for the Department of Welfare (1978-1979). Professor Richardson holds an A.B. degree from Vassar College and an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Charleston. She is also an adjunct faculty member in West Virginia University 's School of Medicine.

Theresa Sachs

Ms. Sachs is a principal at Health Management Associates. She joined HMA in 2005 after working for 17 years in various positions involving health care policy, administration, and consulting.

Ms. Sachs is a nationally known expert on design and financing of Medicaid and SCHIP waiver programs. Prior to joining HMA, her public sector experience included seven years at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly the Health Care Financing Administration, where she specialized in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Ms. Sachs also has experience as a legislative analyst for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, as a program manager for The National Council on Aging, and as Director of an Area Agency on Aging, where she spearheaded several initiatives aimed at expanding options for elders with disabilities to remain in their own homes.

Prior to joining HMA, Ms. Sachs provided consulting assistance to several states relative to the analysis and development of waiver proposals. She has also assisted her clients with policy and budget analysis, work group and focus group facilitation, legislative analysis, program development, negotiations with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and program implementation.

Ms. Sachs holds a Bachelor's Degree from Colgate University in Hamilton, NY in Political Science. She is based in HMA's Washington, DC office.

Ree Sailors

Ree Sailors brings with her extensive state health policy experience. She currently serves as a senior policy analyst with the Washington State Health Care Authority, serving as Project Director of an SCI grant awarded from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in September 2005. She also reviews issues related to the State's Basic Health Plan, Washington 's premium assistance program for the working low-income. For five years, she served as the Governor's Health Care Policy Advisor in Washington, providing recommendations on all aspects of health related issues. In the state of Florida, Ms. Sailors spent 20 years in a variety of executive positions dealing with health care policy. Her expertise includes purchasing on behalf of small employers and their employees and dependents, health care financing, private commercial insurance, indigent care financing, medical malpractice, and consumerism in health care.

Pam Silberman, J.D., Dr.PH

Pam Silberman is the President and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM), where she has helped to staff the Task Forces on the Health Care Safety Net, Latino Health, Nursing Workforce, Preventing Child Maltreatment, NC Health Choice, Long-Term Care, Comprehensive Child Health Task Force, and Dental Care Access. She is currently helping to lead a task force examining the policy options to expand coverage to the uninsured, and a task force examining the primary care and specialist workforce supply. She also serves as the Associate Director for Policy Analysis with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research has focused on evaluating the impact of Medicaid policies and other health policies on rural communities. She has also helped evaluate NC Health Choice ( North Carolina 's State Children's Health Insurance program), Carolina Access ( North Carolina 's enhanced primary care case management program) and Durham 's Work First Program. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, UNC School of Public Health, and teaches courses on underserved populations, safety-net programs and market-based changes, and on the health care policy development process. Dr. Silberman has also served as the Principal Investigator in a collaborative effort with the National Conference of State Legislatures to develop a summer institute for legislative staff from around the country who are beginning to work on health related issues.

Prior to entering graduate school, Dr. Silberman was the Deputy Director of the N.C. Health Planning Commission (1994-1995). The Health Planning Commission was charged with developing a universal health care program to provide all North Carolina residents access to comprehensive, affordable and high quality health care. From 1992 to 1994, Dr. Silberman helped create and was the Project Director for the N.C. Health Access Coalition, a coalition of more than 140 different statewide and grassroots organizations working on health care reform from a consumer perspective. From 1983-1992, Dr. Silberman worked as the public benefits and health law advocate for the N.C. Legal Services Resource Center, representing the interests of low income people in the North Carolina General Assembly, before state agencies, and in the courts. Dr. Silberman served on numerous legislative Commissions, including: NC Legislative Study Commission on Medicaid Reform (2003-2005), Managed Care (2000-01), Access to Health Insurance (1991-1993); and Indigent Care (1985-1989).

Dr. Silberman graduated with a doctorate in public health from the Department of Health Policy and Administration in the School of Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill in December, 1997. She obtained her law degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1981, and her B.A. in Political Science and Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana in 1977. She is the author of “A Consumer's Guide to Health Insurance and Health Programs in North Carolina ” and has authored numerous other manuscripts and articles. Dr. Silberman has been the recipient of several community awards, including the News and Observer Tarheel of the Week, the Kellogg National Fellowship Program, the NC Justice Center's Defender of Justice Award, the NC Primary Health Care Association's award for outstanding service to the underserved, the Pioneer Award for contributions to North Carolina's efforts to improve the health and well-being of its mothers and infants, NC Equity Carpathian award, the NC Council of Women's Organizations Woman of Distinction Award, and the NCAWA's Annual Award, "For Outstanding Accomplishment in Promoting the Participation of Women in the Legal Profession and the Rights of Women under the Law." In 1994, Dr. Silberman was also recognized as being one of the most influential lobbyists in the North Carolina General Assembly. Dr. Silberman served as President of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys in 1988.

Richard Sorian

Richard Sorian is the Vice President for Public Policy for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). He is responsible for the development and implementation of NCQA's public policy strategy and its work with the Federal government and the States.

NCQA is the nation's leading organization committed to improving health care quality. By measuring performance and making the results publicly available, NCQA has created a model of health care accountability that includes health plans, physicians, and others.

Prior to joining NCQA, Mr. Sorian was a Senior Researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change. From 1998 to 2001 he was on the faculty of Georgetown University 's Institute for Health Care Research and Policy.

From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Sorian was a senior official in the Clinton Administration, serving in a variety of roles including Deputy Director of the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, where he directed the development of a Patients' Bill of Rights.

From 1980 to 1993, Mr. Sorian was an award-winning journalist and editor of Medicine & Health, a weekly newsletter focused on U.S. health policy development. He is the author of three books including “The Bitter Pill: Tough Choices in America 's Health Policy.” Mr. Sorian is a graduate of The George Washington University and was awarded the Harvard Journalism Fellowship for Advance Studies in Public Health. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Mari Spaulding-Bynon, J.D.

Mari Spaulding-Bynon, J.D. is the State Coverage Insurance and the Insure New Mexico! Program Manager for the Medical Assistance Division of the Human Services Department in the State of New Mexico. Her primary responsibility is implementation and management of the State Coverage Insurance HIFA waiver, a federally subsidized insurance plan, which is intended to reduce the number of low-income, uninsured, working adults in New Mexico while increasing the rate of employer sponsored health insurance. She is also responsible for implementation strategies of the Insure New Mexico! Council initiatives. Ms. Spaulding-Bynon has a wide variety of both management and administrative experience in the health field including management of a third party administrative organizations, independent practice associations, managed care networks and health plans and administration of self-funded health plans. She has over twenty years of clinical experience in nursing. Ms. Spaulding-Bynon has a degree in law from the University of New Mexico with a special concentration in courses focusing on health law in conjunction with St. Louis University.

Patricia Swolak, Esq.

Patricia Swolak is an attorney with the New York State Department of Insurance's Health Bureau. Since joining the Department in 1998, she has been involved in numerous special projects, including the implementation of the state's external appeal law, the creation of a COBRA premium subsidy program, and the implementation and oversight of the state's Healthy New York program. In that capacity, she has drafted legislation, promulgated regulations, and served as the primary contact for regulatory guidance to the health plans. Ms. Swolak has represented the department at various conferences, conducted national webcasts regarding the program, and has provided technical assistance to other states interested in the Healthy New York model. Most recently, Ms. Swolak has been appointed to the New York 's interagency workgroup on Health Information Technology.

Ms. Swolak received her B.S., magna cum laude, from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and her J.D. from the University at Buffalo. In addition, she holds a certificate of legal concentration in State and Local Government. She volunteers as a panel member for New York 's Surrogate Decision Making Committee which grants or withholds consent for medical treatment for the mentally disabled. Trish is also admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C. and resides in Albany, NY.

Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D.

Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D., Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management, in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. He also co-directs the Emory Center on Health Outcomes and Quality. He was the Vanselow Professor of Health Policy and Director, Institute for Health Services Research at Tulane University. He was previously Professor of Health Policy and Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; an Associate Professor and Director of the Program on Health Care Financing and Insurance at the Harvard University School of Public Health and Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Public Health at Columbia University. Dr. Thorpe has also held Visiting Faculty positions at Pepperdine University and Duke University. Professor Thorpe was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1993 to 1995. In this capacity, he coordinated all financial estimates and program impacts of President Clinton's health care reform proposals for the White House. He also directed the administration's estimation efforts in dealing with Congressional health care reform proposals during the 103 rd and 104 th sessions of Congress. As an academic, he has testified before several committees in the U.S. Senate and House on health care reform and insurance issues. In 1991, Professor Thorpe was awarded the Young Investigator Award presented to the most promising health services researcher in the country under age 40 by the Association for Health Services Research. He also received the Hettleman Award for academic and scholarly research at the University of North Carolina and was provided an “Up and Comers” award by Modern Healthcare. Dr. Thorpe has authored and co-authored over 85 articles, book chapters and books and is a frequent national presenter on issues of health care financing, insurance and health care reform at health care conferences, television and the media. He has worked with several groups (including the American College of Physicians, American Hospital Association, National Coalition on Health Care, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Service Employees International Union, and the United Hospital Fund) and policymakers (including Senators Wellstone, Corzine, Bingaman, Snowe, Clinton, Obama and Kennedy) to develop and evaluate alternative approaches for providing health insurance to the uninsured. He serves as a reviewer on several health care journals.

Dr. Thorpe is a frequent commenter on health care issues in the print media and television. He has appeared on Nightline with Ted Koppel, NBC News with Tom Brokow, ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, CNN, CNBC and Newshour with Jim Lehrer.

Professor Thorpe received his Ph.D. from the Rand Graduate School, an M.A. from Duke University and his B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Joseph W. Thompson, M.D., M.P.H

Joseph W. Thompson is an Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and practices as a general pediatrician and preventive medicine specialist. As the Director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI), Dr. Thompson is responsible for developing health policy, research activities and collaborative programs that promote better health and healthcare in Arkansas. He works closely with the Governor's office and the Arkansas Legislature as well as with public and private organizations to support relevant public health policy topics such as access to quality care. Through ACHI, Dr. Thompson has led efforts in planning and implementing healthcare financing reform, tobacco- and obesity-related health promotion and disease prevention programs.

In 2005, Dr. Thompson was asked by Governor Mike Huckabee to serve as the state's first Chief Health Officer. In this position as Surgeon General in the Governor's Cabinet, Dr. Thompson is responsible for identifying strategies across state government and shaping policies to improve the health of Arkansans.

Dr. Thompson has served as the Principal Investigator for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Arkansas State Planning Grant and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) State Coverage Initiatives Demonstration Grant Programs. He is past President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and author of numerous articles and publications that reflect his research interests in the areas of healthcare – access, quality, and disparities in receipt of care, particularly as they pertain to vulnerable populations.

Dr. Thompson is an active clinician at the Arkansas Children's Hospital Pediatric Clinic. He earned a Medical Degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, served as the Luther Terry Fellow in the US Department of Health and Human Services, and was the first Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Child and Adolescent Health Scholar.

Heidi Weaver

Heidi Weaver is the Program Manager of the Primary Care Network and Covered at Work programs within the Utah Department of Health, Division of Health Care Financing. She has worked for the Department of Health for the past five years. During her time with the Department, she has worked as a Health Program Specialist for CHIP with responsibilities including HMO contracts and overseeing the CHIP state plan. She assumed her position as PCN Program Manager in August 2004.

Alan Weil, J.D., M.P.P.

Alan R. Weil has been executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy since September of 2004. Previously, Mr. Weil served for seven years as director of the Assessing the New Federalism project at the Urban Institute, one of the largest privately funded social policy research projects ever undertaken in the United States. He has also held a cabinet position as executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing; was health policy advisor to Colorado Governor Roy Romer; and was assistant general counsel in the Massachusetts Department of Medical Security. He is the editor of two books: Welfare Reform: The Next Act and Federalism and Health Policy, and has authored chapters in a number of books and published articles in journals including Health Affairs and Inquiry. Mr. Weil was an appointed member of President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry, which drafted the patient's bill of rights. He is a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, and serves on advisory committees for three Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Public Health and Hospitals Institute, and of the editorial board of State Health Watch. Mr. Weil is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and received his M.P.P. degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.