Eli Kirshbaum

We had the opportunity to speak with June Chung, deputy legislative officer at Gov. Wes Moore's legislative office, about the governor's health policy priorities at the 2023 Maryland State of Reform Health Policy Conference earlier this year. Chung said the office has two central goals: modernizing Maryland's public health system and responding to the behavioral health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Del. Bonnie Cullison, vice chair of the House Health and Government Operations Committee in the Maryland Legislature, says her top priorities in Maryland healthcare are reaching universal healthcare coverage and lowering the state's growing healthcare costs. We sat down with Cullison at the 2023 Maryland State of Reform Health Policy Conference in the spring to hear about some of her priorities.

Sameer Amin, MD, chief medical officer at L.A. Care Health Plan, spoke with us at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference about the most promising strategies for supporting the state's healthcare workforce. He said it's important for leaders to use funding allocated to workforce support in a way that improves the design of the healthcare system and reduces administrative burden for those currently working in healthcare, rather than solely funding the recruitment of new staff.

We sat down with Michael Sequeira, MD, the county health officer for San Bernardino County, at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy

The Happier Life Project is a community-based organization in Southern California that supports individuals struggling with substance use and mental health issues by connecting them to services. Carolina Ayala, the organization's executive director, told us about some of the nonprofit's on-the-ground work at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference.

Subrata Saha, account director at Grazitti Interactive (a marketing technology company), is focused on strengthening California's data sharing infrastructure to meet the demands of the CalAIM initiative. Subrata told us about some of this work at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference. He said health data comes from many disparate systems, making the comprehensive collection of data difficult.

John Connolly, assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, was the Closing Keynote at the 2023 Minnesota State of Reform Health Policy Conference. Connolly spoke on the state's Medicaid redetermination process and ways the department is advancing equity for youth.

For Stephanie Booth, MD, physician representative with L.A. Care Health Plan, increasing Medi-Cal reimbursement rates is a top priority. At the 2023 Southern California Health Policy Conference, Booth told us about what she's watching in state health policy, which includes the “atrocious” Medi-Cal pay and lack of interconnectivity in health data.

Through his work as a project specialist at the USC Homelessness Policy Research Institute, Nicholas Weinmeister and his team collect data on homelessness in the Southern California region to draw on to inform future strategies for supporting the unhoused and housing-insecure population. Weinmeister told us about some of this work at the 2023 Southern California State of Reform Health Policy Conference.

Tanis Sugden is the senior director of care management for Independent Living Systems, where she oversees the implementation of CalAIM programs in the organization's facilities across the state. She works closely with counties and health plans to implement benefits like Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports.