A group of 21 leaders from a variety of community and health organizations has been appointed by the state Health Care Cabinet to serve on the Connecticut AHEAD Advisory Committee.
Connecticut AHEAD — or states Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development — is a $12 million federal total cost-of-care model that is 100% funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award.
The program is administered in Connecticut by the state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) and the state Department of Social Services (DSS). The model is intended to improve population health, reduce disparities in health outcomes and slow the growth of healthcare costs.
The Health Care Cabinet advises the governor’s office and OHS on health reform implementation and other health policy initiatives. The Connecticut AHEAD Advisory Committee will help develop a statewide health equity plan.
Dr. Deidre Gifford, commissioner of OHS, said her department received more than 40 nominations for the advisory committee.
Members of the Connecticut AHEAD Advisory Committee will provide input on selecting statewide population health and quality measures, and develop equity targets for the statewide health equity plan. Committee members will work with the Connecticut AHEAD team to produce annual progress reports, review equity plans developed by hospitals participating in the program, and provide guidance on activities and investments.
Appointed members are:
- Tanya Barrett, senior vice president, 211 CT’s Health and Human Services, a division of the United Way of Connecticut.
- Patrick Charmel, president and CEO of Griffin Health.
- Alan Coker, consumer.
- Lori Fedewa, director of the state Office of Rural Health.
- Susan Halpin, co-principal of CT Association of Health Plans.
- Tricia Hasselman, senior vice president of contracting and payer solutions for Hartford HealthCare.
- Dan Keenan, regional vice president of advocacy and government relations for Trinity Health.
- Dr. Rajlakshmi Krishnamurthy, chief population health officer for Yale New Haven Health and Yale Medicine.
- Arielle Levin Becker, chief of staff and communications for the Connecticut Health Foundation.
- Dr. Robert McLean, medical director for Northeast Medical Group.
- Kally Moquete, senior manager of policy for Health Equity Solutions.
- David Morgan, CEO of TEAM Inc.
- Christina Mukon of CT APRN Association.
- Adriana Rojas, community health worker project manager for Community Health Center Inc.
- Michele Scott, tribal councilor for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.
- Gary Steck, CEO of Wellmore Behavioral Health.
- Michael Taylor, CEO of Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center.
- Dr. Stephen Traub, president of ProHealth Physicians.
- Lisa Trumble, president and CEO of SoNE Health.
- Lisa Weingard-Roland, a consumer/advocate.
- Deremius Williams, senior vice president of payer strategy and innovation for Yale New Haven Health.
The committee will begin its work in January.
