Heidi Allen Appointed to MACPAC
Associate Professor Heidi Allen has been appointed as one of five new members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). MACPAC is a federal, non-partisan, legislative branch agency that provides policy and data analysis and makes recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on a wide array of issues affecting Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The U.S. Comptroller General appoints MACPAC’s 17 commissioners, who come from diverse regions across the United States and bring broad expertise and a wide range of perspectives on Medicaid and CHIP. Allen will serve a three-year term, through April 2024. It is a testament to Allen’s deep expertise and broad impact that she has been selected for this important role and rare honor.
For Allen, a nationally recognized researcher and advisor in the field of health policy, the appointment is a dream come true. “Medicaid and CHIP insures over 70 million low-income Americans,” she said. “MACPAC plays a critical independent role in advising the administration and Congress on strategies to improve the program. I’m honored and humbled to have a seat at this table.”
Dean Melissa Begg said: “Heidi Allen is a superb choice for MACPAC. From her experience as an emergency department social worker to her work as a key investigator on the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment, she brings a unique vision and lens to this important work that will affect the health of millions of Americans. She studies exactly how social policies drive health outcomes, and can apply her knowledge to inform health system redesign to optimize well-being.”
Allen is a nationally recognized researcher, writer, and adviser in the field of health policy. A former emergency department social worker, she was a lead investigator on the landmark Oregon Health Insurance Experiment—the first randomized study in the United States to evaluate the causal impacts of Medicaid expansion on uninsured adults. Among her many distinctions, she has been the recipient of the 2019 Society for Social Work Research (SSWR) Social Policy Researcher Award, was an American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellow in Health and Aging Policy, and is currently a standing member of the National Institutes of Health, Health and Healthcare Disparities study section.
Related links:
Heidi Allen on American Healthcare and the People Left Behind
