Julian Harris, MD

Julian Harris, MD, was named Massachusetts Medicaid director in July 2011. In that role, he oversees an $11 billion program that provides health insurance for 1.3 million Massachusetts residents. Since assuming his position, Dr. Harris successfully negotiated an innovative Medicaid 1115 Waiver renewal that gave Massachusetts authority to pursue a bundled payment pilot as well as an innovative, performance-based approach to supporting safety-net hospitals. Massachusetts also became the first state in the country to submit a proposal to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide dual eligible beneficiaries with access to an integrated model of care delivery and financing. He has also played a major role in planning for implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts.Dr. Harris is a primary care physician who has spent his career working in clinical, health policy, and business roles to improve access to high-quality, affordable health care for vulnerable populations in this country and abroad. Dr. Harris has designed, managed, and evaluated public health and health system-strengthening projects and partnerships in several middle and low-income countries. Dr. Harris also has advised entrepreneurs interested in developing accountable care organizations (ACO) and has lectured on the potential of the ACO model to drive delivery system reform in Medicaid.During the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, Dr. Harris served on the Health Care Cost and Patient Safety and Quality Subcommittees. He also served on the Health Reform Task Force of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Quality & Patient Safety Committee of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. Currently, he serves as an ex-officio board member of the Massachusetts Health Connector Authority, the state’s health insurance exchange. He is also on the Massachusetts Health Information Technology Council and on the board of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners.Dr. Harris graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a degree in medical ethics and health policy and studied at Oxford University's Balliol College as a Rhodes Scholar. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from the Health Care Management Program at the Wharton School of Business. He trained in internal medicine and primary care at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and its affiliated Southern Jamaica Plain Community Health Center while serving as a clinical fellow on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.