Kathleen Nolan, MPH, is regional Vice President at Health Management Associates, a leading independent national research and consulting firm in the healthcare industry. She has been actively engaged in the national dialogue during one of the most transformative periods in the history of Medicaid. Her Medicaid reform and innovation expertise includes Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, managed care expansion, payment reform, delivery system alignment of physical and behavioral health, managed long-term care services and supports, and advances in health information technology.
For 12 years Ms. Nolan served as director of state policy and programs for the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) and as division director of health for the National Governors Association (NGA) giving her a unique perspective on state policy making. She convened national and state leaders to foster collaboration, find common ground, share promising practices and lessons learned, and advance implementation of health care reform.
Joining NAMD shortly after its launch, Kathleen was instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of the organization. She managed a portfolio of state technical assistance projects on a range of policy and programmatic issues. She led the organization’s efforts to assist states in tackling major Medicaid challenges including behavioral health integration, delivery system reform, ACA implementation, and overall agency leadership. Most recently, Kathleen helped analyze the proposed managed care regulations and began to prepare states for their implementation. She envisioned and managed the annual NAMD State Medicaid Operations Survey which provides insight into how Medicaid directors are managing increasingly complex programs while driving system reform.
Kathleen has also held senior health policy positions with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the Institute of Medicine.
She earned her master’s degree in public health from the George Washington University, and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.