David Sayen
Regional Administrator, Region IX
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

David Saÿen is the Regional Administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) San Francisco office. CMS Region IX includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Territories.

David and his immediate staff are focused on external and intergovernmental affairs, while operations units in the office provide technical assistance and conduct a variety of reviews, evaluations, and inspections of activities in CMS’s programs. The San Francisco Regional Office spans a vast geographic area, has one of the most culturally diverse populations in the nation, and serves more than 14 million Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries.

David brings more than 30 years of Federal service and experience in health and human services programs to his position. Between 2002 and 2007, as Associate Regional Administrator for Medicare Health Plans Operations, he led all Medicare private health plan contract operations for Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug benefit in the San Francisco region. Before that, he led the Medicare Contractor Financial Management and Program Integrity functions. Prior to coming to California, he held posts in the CMS headquarters Office of Information Services and the Philadelphia region.

David is deeply committed to CMS’s mission, which is to ensure effective, up-to-date healthcare coverage and to promote quality care for all beneficiaries. He is particularly interested in advancing programs that improve care for those living with chronic diseases and in addressing disparities in health status that affect priority populations.

David is a Senior Fellow of the Council on Excellence in Government. He received the HHS Secretary's Distinguished Service Award on two occasions. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and his MBA in Health Administration from Temple University in Philadelphia. He lives in Alameda, California with his family.

Herb K. Schultz
Regional Director, Region IX
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Herb Schultz is the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region IX, which includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific. Herb serves as a key representative of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in working with federal, state, local and tribal officials on a wide range of health and social service issues.

Herb was appointed to his current position in April 2010, serving a vast geographic area with one of the most culturally diverse populations in the nation.

Previously, Herb was Senior Advisor to California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, from 2008 to 2010, and, since January 2010, Director of the California Recovery Task Force, responsible for the oversight and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He was the Senior Health Policy Advisor to Schwarzenegger during California's 2006-2008 state debate on comprehensive healthcare reform. Earlier, from 2005 to 2006, he was VP of Government Programs for McKesson Health Solutions, where he oversaw the company's disease management and nurse advice programs for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. He was also formerly Acting Director of the California Employment Development Department in the first year of Governor Schwarzenegger's administration. Earlier, Herb served as a member of then-Governor Gray Davis' Cabinet, as Acting Secretary for the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. He was appointed Undersecretary before his Cabinet-Level appointment, and remained in both roles until the end of the Davis administration. Prior to that, he was Deputy Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Managed Health Care, which included serving as Director of the Advisory Committee on Managed Health Care.

Herb earned his BA in Political Science and International Studies from The American University, and his Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University, both in Washington, DC.

Patricia Powers
Acting Administrative Officer
California Health Benefit Exchange

Pat Powers brings to the healthcare industry nearly 30 years of experience as a nationally known leader in the private and public sectors. She is a consultant focused on strategic visioning, policy, and business development for all sectors of healthcare. Clients include for-profits and non-profits, state and federal agencies, and foundations. Key recent engagements include: from late April through August 2011, Acting Administrative Officer for the California Health Benefit Exchange; and from June 2010-March 2011, consultant and Interim CEO for the Center for Connected Health Policy, focused on developing policies to improve healthcare delivery through telehealth.

From 2003 to 2008, Pat was President and CEO of the Center for Health Improvement (CHI), a nonprofit health policy and technical assistance center dedicated to improving population health and encouraging healthy behaviors. CHI served as the initial national program office for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, Aligning Forces for Quality, as well as for the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality Learning Network for Chartered Value Exchanges. Pat directed the technical assistance for these national initiatives, which are designed to advance healthcare quality and engage consumers at the community level. During her tenure, she initiated and oversaw the California Health Policy Forum, a nonpartisan platform for legislative and agency staff, that organizes educational sessions, conducts webinars, and develops and disseminates issue briefs on a wide range of topics.

Throughout the 1990s, Pat was President and CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), where she successfully initiated and led the operations of two subsidiary benefits purchasing programs representing nearly $1 billion in premiums. PBGH members included Fortune 500 employers and small businesses. Member companies’ annual health expenditures exceeded $4 billion. Pat achieved a national reputation for cutting-edge market-wide initiatives that resulted in significant reductions in healthcare costs, improved quality of care, enhanced data and information, and provided consumers with relevant decision-making tools and content. She co-founded the Leapfrog Group, designed to reduce medical errors. She also created a national initiative, the V8 group of business coalitions (now e-Value8), to standardize and streamline health procurement for employers. During Pat’s tenure, the PBGH budget grew to $31 million.

Pat was formerly Director of a Bay Area Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initiative to expand health insurance among uninsured small businesses and self-employed persons. Prior to that, she spent five years in Washington, DC, specializing in healthcare financing and policy analysis. She received a BA from the University of Michigan and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from Columbia University in New York. Following her graduate studies, she completed a two-year Federal program as a Presidential Management Intern. She has held positions on the board of directors and various committees of the National Committee on Quality Assurance and one of two purchaser seats on the National Forum for Health Care Quality Measurement and Reporting (now the National Quality Forum). She was a member of the board of the National Business Coalition on Health and served on the Physician Payment Review Commission.

Kevin Counihan
President
CHOICE Administrators Exchange Services
Formerly, CMO of Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority (2005-2010)

Kevin Counihan has been President of CHOICE Administrators Exchange Services since March 2011, a division of CHOICE Administrators, the nation’s leading developer and administrator of health insurance exchanges. Kevin is responsible for overseeing the company’s exchange development strategy nationwide.

Health reform legislation passed in 2010 requires all states establish an HIE by January 1, 2014, or default to a federal fallback program. CHOICE Administrators is uniquely positioned to help states easily and confidently comply with this federal mandate, bringing to bear CHOICE Administrators’ 15-year track record in operating the nation’s most mature and successful commercial HIE, CaliforniaChoice.

Currently serving more than 10,000 employers and 150,000 members, CHOICE Administrators is part of The Word & Brown Companies, the nation’s leading developer and administrator of consumer-choice exchange models. Among the Exchanges currently operated by CHOICE Administrators are the CaliforniaChoice® small group (2-50 employees) and mid-market (51-199 employees) private exchanges, HSA California, Choice Builder, the nation’s first ancillary benefit exchange and Quotit, one of the nation’s largest individual/family proposal and online enrollment systems that generated more than 4.2 million individual health quotes in 2010. Other CHOICE Administrators’ products include Kaiser Permanente Choice Solution and Contractors’ Choice.

Previously, Kevin was Chief Marketing Officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Insurance Connector Authority since its inception in 2006. There, he helped procure, organize and manage the nation’s first state-sponsored HIE for individuals and small businesses. Over the past 25 years, Kevin has worked in a variety of positions in the health insurance and employee benefits industries, including underwriting, finance, marketing, sales and operations. He was Senior VP for Sales, Marketing and Member Services for Tufts Health Plan and, previously, VP of Sales for CIGNA and EQUICOR.

Kevin earned his BA degree in English and Music Composition from the University of Michigan, and his MBA in Marketing and Finance from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Mark Morgan
VP and General Manager
Anthem/Blue Cross' Small Group division

Mark Morgan is Vice President and General Manager of Anthem Blue Cross.

Anthem Blue Cross of California is a licensee of WellPoint, the nation's largest commercial health insurer. Anthem Blue Cross offers large networks of some of the region's best physicians, specialists and hospitals, as well as related services, including dental coverage, life insurance and pharmacy benefits management. It also provides programs and information to help manage chronic health conditions.

Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California. Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association.

Mark has over 15 years of health plan experience, including leadership roles in operations, product, marketing and sales. Previously, he led Anthem’s small group business, from 2008 to 2010. Prior to Anthem, from 2005 to 2008, he was COO of Health Net of California. From 2004 to 2005, he was VP of Sales at Blue Shield.

Mark earned his degree at Pepperdine University’s George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management, in 1997.

Ron Goldstein
President and CEO
CHOICE Administrators

Ron Goldstein is President and CEO of CHOICE Administrators, and has been a leading architect in the creation and acceptance of group employee-choice health insurance exchanges. He currently is responsible for a series of health insurance programs, including CaliforniaChoice, America’s longest-standing, state-approved HIE.

CHOICE Administrators, a Word & Brown Company, is the nation’s leading developer and administrator of HIEs, including CaliforniaChoice, CaliforniaChoice 51+, Kaiser Permanente Choice Solution, HSA California®, CONTRACTOR'S CHOICE® and Choice Builder®, the nation’s first dental and ancillary Exchange. To support the employee-choice mission of CHOICE Administrators, Ron has overseen the development of a number of innovative consumer-decision support tools that includes cross-referenced provider and formulary guides, enrollment budget planning tools and an online enrollment engine that supports multiple benefit choices from multiple plans. Through 2010, CHOICE Administrators served over 10,000 employers representing more than 150,000 members, and has administered over 21 million member months of Exchange coverage since its inception.

In 1990, Ron joined Word & Brown as VP of General Agency Operations, and annually earned the coveted NAHU Golden Eagle for Management Award. In 1996, he was named Senior VP of Word & Brown's newly launched CaliforniaChoice, where he conceptualized and designed its defined-contribution model, enabling the company to emerge as the nation's leading HIE for small and mid-size group healthcare benefits. In 2003, Ron was appointed President of CHOICE Administrators, and then CEO in 2011.

With a background spanning more than 30 years in the health insurance industry, Ron began his career in 1981 with John Hancock Insurance, where he rapidly ascended to a leadership position focused on the medical disability field. His next position was with Dun & Bradstreet Plan Services, a national health insurance administrator. He spent seven years there, ultimately attaining the position of Regional VP and was responsible for group and individual health products for the Western U.S.

A Chartered Life Underwriter, Ron earned his college degree, in 1984, from the University of South Florida, College of Business Administration.