KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, Dec. 5
A former senior staffer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has joined the Kansas Health Institute.
Gina C. Maree is KHI”s new director of Health Care Finance and Organization. She will oversee the institute”s research and analysis on public and private health insurance, health care markets and costs, safety net providers and health information technology.
Before coming to KHI, Maree was deputy regional inspector general for the HHS Office of Inspector General, Office of Evaluation and Inspections. While working in the Kansas City, Mo. HHS office she directed and participated in dozens of evaluations of Medicaid and the State Children”s Health Insurance Program. She also served as acting director of the Medicaid branch of the HHS Office of Inspector General, Office of Evaluation and Inspections in Washington, D.C.
“Gina will be invaluable to our work of understanding and evaluating the health care system,” said Dr. Robert St. Peter, president and chief executive officer of KHI. “Her working knowledge of Medicaid and other state and federal health care programs, her experience in evaluating their effectiveness and efficiency and her role in communicating that information to high-level policymakers provide her with a unique set of skills.”
Maree, who holds a master”s degree in social work from the University of Kansas, will help guide KHI”s efforts to inform policymakers as they consider health reform initiatives.
“There are serious discussions at both the state and national levels about the adequacy of our current system and what we can do to both expand access to care and improve health outcomes,” Maree said. “I look forward to contributing to those policy discussions.”
The Kansas Health Policy Authority recently proposed a 21-point reform plan to Kansas legislators. It would expand Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults and make it easier for small business owners to provide health benefits to their employees. The plan also contains several initiatives aimed at preventing chronic disease and helping Kansans live healthier lives.