FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Audrey Shelto
(617) 246-6114
[email protected]
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Announces Policy and Research Appointment
BOSTON—September 17, 2013 - The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation has appointed Kaitlyn Kenney Walsh as Director of Policy & Research. Ms. Kenney Walsh will be responsible for managing the Foundation’s policy work related to affordability, which includes in-depth research on public and private efforts to contain health care costs, monitoring the implementation of the national Affordable Care Act as well as Massachusetts health reform, and the movement to find more efficient and effective ways to expand access and meet the complex health care needs of low-income, vulnerable populations.
Since 2007, Kenney Walsh has been at the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, most recently as Director of Policy and Research and Coordinator of National Health Care Reform. As a member of the senior management team, she had responsibility for developing and implementing strategy and long term planning for the Health Connector. A significant part of her role was in identifying the implications of national health care reform for the Commonwealth and its residents. “Kaitlyn possesses an exceptional blend of expertise in healthcare policy analysis and development, a deep knowledge of the healthcare industry, including financing, access, and delivery systems as well as awareness of the specific issues facing our Commonwealth,” said Audrey Shelto, President of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “Her expertise will help ensure that the Foundation’s research is designed to gain community-wide support for innovative and lasting solutions.”
Kenney Walsh joins Celeste Lee, Kate Nordahl and Jessica Larochelle as members of the Foundation’s leadership team. Lee oversees all of the Foundation's grant programs. In 2012, the Foundation awarded grants totaling over $3.5 million to community organizations across Massachusetts. Nordahl is director of the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute, a Foundation program devoted to broadening public understanding of MassHealth, the public insurance program that includes both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Larochelle directs the evaluation of grants and identifies trends to inform the Foundation’s work.
About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to expand access to health care. It focuses on collaborating with public and private stakeholders to develop measurable and sustainable solutions that benefit uninsured, vulnerable, and low-income individuals and families in the Commonwealth. The Foundation was established in 2001 with an endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors.
