Detailed Agenda

This opening session will key off the day with some comments on the role of State of Reform and the day's content in a new era of policy and politics.

DJ Wilson: Host, State of Reform

Bob Ferguson is one of the nation’s most active - and activist - attorneys general. He has brought anti-competitive lawsuits against health care providers in Washington State and filed injunctions against the President sitting in Washington DC. Ferguson will summarize his office’s activity and take questions from DJ Wilson about what we might see in the future from the AG.

Bob Ferguson: Attorney General, State of Washington

Federal policy continues to shift and change on a monthly - and sometimes daily - basis. This panel will talk through the latest out of Washington DC, and discuss what we might expect to come next in 2018.

Pam MacEwan: Chief Executive Officer Washignton Health Benefit Exchange

Tom Holt: Managing Partner, Holt and Company

Jeff Sprung: Assistant Attorney General, Washington Attorney General's Office

Value based payment methodology is moving forward but with mixed enthusiasm and results.  Some entities are willing but can’t find partners. Others have found success, while still others are staying away. This session will talk through the latest results and activity in the market related to VBP.

Kathryn Rains-McNalley: Administrative Director, Finance & Contracting, Virginia Mason

Richard Popiel, MD: Executive Vice President & CMO, Cambia Health Solutions

Hiroshi Nakano: Director, Value Based Care, Valley Medical Center

Empowering consumers has long been a goal of some health care leaders. However, updating the existing system to build around customers is not a linear process. Learn from these market actors about their work to re-center our health care around patients and consumers.

Michael Brown Hayes: Assistant Director, AI Operations, Cambia Health Solutions

Lindsay Harris: Chief Client Officer, Healthcare Management Administrators

Dino Ramzi: President, Patient Direct Care

These experts will review the progress and changes to Medicaid since the expansion was launched in 2014. What have we learned?  What is different as a result?  Bring your questions to what will be an engaging dialog.

Doug Bowes: President, United Healthcare Community Plan Washington

MaryAnne Lindeblad: Medicaid Director, Health Care Authority

Joe Roszak: Executive Director, Kitsap Mental Health Services

The structure of the economy is changing, where more folks are finding flexible employment that is project or “gig” based. What does this mean for the model of health care benefits? Does this herald a new responsibility for employers, or a new role for the exchange? This panel of leaders will take up the topic.  

Lani Todd: Legislative & Policy Director, SEIU 775

Rajeev Singh: Chief Executive Officer, Accolade

Alex Rule: Northwest Regional Sales VP, Arthur J Gallagher

This is always one of our most popular, well-attended panels.  Come learn from some of the lobbyists and insiders that will be shaping policy in the 2018 legislative session as they detail their vision for the upcoming 60-day session.

Ian Goodhew: Director, Government Relations, UW Medicine

Melissa Johnson: Lobbyist, Bogard & Johnson

Mel Sorensen: Principal, Carney Badley Spellman

The increasing rate of consolidation in health care has spawned a policy backlash.  Voices at the state and federal level both are calling for a renewed activism related to anti-trust regulation, though the issue is complex and nuanced. This session will take up the topic, as well as your questions.

Steve Fairchild: Assistant Attorney Genral, Washinton Attorney General's Office

Douglas Ross: Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine; Law Lecturer, UW School of Law

Carla Dewberry: Partner, K&L Gates

Cost continues to be one of the most prominent issues in the commercial market today.  And, while choice of providers is also important, businesses, plans, and providers are working to address cost and pricing issues, too. This panel of experts will review market and policy activity on the topic, and draw some lessons learned from recent years.

Mig Anson: Head, ACO Strategy & Operations, Aetna

Molly Voris: Policy Director, Washington Health Benefit Exchange

Dhyan Lal: Vice President, Payer Strategy & Accountable Care, CHI Franciscan

Both left and right agree that the ACA has room for improvement with only the range of changes in question. This session will talk through what should come next in Washington State, particularly in light of continued uncertainty among federal policy makers.

Caitlin Safford: Director of Government Relations, Amerigroup

Tom Sebastian: Chief Executive Officer, Compass Health

Lonnie Johns Brown: Legislative Director, Office of the Insurance Commissioner

John Kitzhaber continues to be one of America’s most important thought leaders on the topic of health reform and health policy.  The CCO model Oregon adopted under his governorship remains one of the most ambitious re-designs of the health system in any state. This intimate conversation, moderated by DJ Wilson, will include federal policy, a critique of the work in Washington State, and your questions!

Hon. John Kitzhaber, MD: Former Governor, State of Oregon

Learn from some of the leading Democratic legislators about their plans for the upcoming legislative session.  They will take up policy ideas, political realities, and the consequences of federal uncertainty.  Bring your questions and your ideas for the 2018 session!

Hon. Eileen Cody: Chair, House Health Care & Wellness Committee

Hon. Patty Kuderer: Vice Chair, Senate Health Care Committee

The manner in which we pay for care is often a driving force in the way we reform the system of care. So, knowing the trends in how the money is flowing in health care today can point to the future of care delivery. This session will talk about the trends and issues in 2018 between payers and their provider partners.

Beth Johnson: Senior Vice President, Premera Blue Cross

Paul Williams, OD: Chief Medical Officer, Vision Source

Karl Rebay: Partner, Moss Adams

Technology continues to be an important means to the end of improved health outcomes.  However, the gap between the ambition of technology firms and the impact to health continues to be wide.  This session will review lessons learned from attempts at improvements, and what we might expect to be the successes coming in 2018.

Archie Mayani: VP, Population Health Management, Optum

Gwendolyn O'Keefe, MD: Principal, GO Healthcare Strategy

Paul Isabelli: Vice President & General Manager of Population Health, Caradigm

The outcomes of our collective policy approach to homelessness continues to fall short of our aspirations. The problem continues to grow, continues to challenge our sense of community, and continues to fall short of the needs of individuals in distress. This session will offer some new ideas about how best to bridge the world of health care with that of housing insecurity.

Torri Canda: Behavioral Health Integration Director, Amerigroup

Hon. Mark Miloscia: Member, Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing Committee

Hon. Josh Green, MD: Chair, Senate Human Services Committee, State of Hawaii

Looking at health care from the investment world, there would seem to be a host of opportunities and pitfalls, some of which are clear but with others that are clearly not.  This session will discuss where investors believe the areas of greatest disruption and consumer benefit lie in the system today.

Rebecca Norlander: Chief Executive Officer, SamePage Health

Gary Ritner: Investment Banking and Co-Founder, Puget Sound Venture Club

This panel of respected leaders from across the health care community will talk through their vision for charting a path forward in 2018 during a time of significant market and policy transition. The discussion will include the more relevant principles of leadership today, the trends to watch in the market, and where the policy conversation is likely to go in the year ahead.

Gary Kaplan, MD: Chief Executive Officer, Virginia Mason

Leanne Berge: Chief Executive Officer, Community Health Plan of Washington

Sally Watkins, PhD., MS, RN: Executive Director, Washington State Nurses Association

This panel of Republican legislators will discuss their vision for the 2018 legislative session, and plans for working through key policy questions in the 60-day sprint.  This is always a well-attended session with some of the most important policy makers in Olympia. Bring your questions and expect a good dialog.

Hon. Joe Schmick: Ranking Minority Member, House Health Care & Wellness Committee

Hon. Randi Becker: Member, Senate Health Care Committee

Connecting the right payment methodology to support a broad cohort of residents, with both chronic and acute medical needs, can be a tricky proposition.  Transferring risk from payer to provider has its challenges, even if it’s in a shared upside arrangement. This session will discuss the topic, the payment models available, and the infrastructure needed to make it all work.

Pablo Rodriguez: Senior Director, Product & Innovation, SEIU 775 Benefits Group

Paul Ciechanowski: Founder & Chief Medical Officer, SamePage Health

Sallie Sanford: Associate Professor of Law, University of Washington

The promise from the bio-technology sector is immense, with genome-specific and precision medicine on the horizon.  But, at what financial cost to the system?  And where do PBMs, plans, and pharmaceutical companies find common ground?  This panel will dig into the discussion.

Shea Wilson: Director of Pharmacy, Molina Healthcare of Washington

Glenn Wachter: Senior Director, Credena Health Specialty Pharmacy, Providence St. Joseph Health

Abigail Stoddard: Government Affairs Consultant Principal, Prime Therapeutics

Asher Lisec: Senior Director of State Advocacy, PhRMA

Accountable Communities of Health were first adopted in statute in 2014.  Four years later, their promise and progress has had mixed results. This session will foster an honest conversation about the future of these new organizations, and the role they may be expected to play moving forward.

Amina Suchoski: Executive Director and VP, Growth & Community Development, United Healthcare Community and State

Alisha Fehrenbacher: Executive Director, Pierce County ACH

Susan McLaughlin: Executive Director, King County ACH

Where are the largest, most capital-intensive parts of our health care system going in 2018?  What strategic trends are they seeing and how are they responding to the threats a lack of predictability brings?  This panel of leading executives will discuss these topics and more!

Geoff Austin: Executive Director, University of Washington Medical Center

Bill Robertson: President & Chief Executive Officer, MultiCare Health System

Bob Malte: Chief Executive Officer, Evergreen Health (invited)

Mike Kreidler is the most senior insurance commissioner in the United States, and one of the most senior, most well-regarded health policy leaders of any state in the country.  He’ll join us for a one-on-one discussion with DJ Wilson to talk through the state of health policy in 2018, and what we might look for in both Olympia and Washington DC.

Hon. Mike Kreidler: Insurance Commissioner, State of Washington

Long term care continues to be one of the biggest, most complex parts of the health care delivery system. Moreover, the interfaces and transitions between long term care and the acute care setting are numerous, complicated, and difficult to manage. This panel will discuss the state of things in this system, and address the opportunity for better care coordination.

Lee Spears: Director, Palliative Care, Regence BlueShield

David Kelly: Executive Director, Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities of SW WA

Rebecca Kavoussi: Vice President & General Manager, Landmark

The integration of mental and physical health in Medicaid (FIMC) is a reality in Southwest Washington and is launching in the North Central region of the state. In 2019, five of the remaining seven regions move forward. This panel will highlight the lessons from Southwest Washington, and apply those to new regions coming online soon.

Julie Lindberg: VP, Health Care Services, Molina Healthcare of Washington

Teresita Batayola: Chief Executive Officer, International Community Health Services

Sarah Arnquist: VP, Client Partnerships, Beacon Health Options

There is renewed energy around building a public option for residents to purchase insurance benefits in Washington State. Candidates in the City of Seattle ran on the issue in 2017, the OIC has produced a report on the topic, and a bill in the legislature moves the conversation forward, too. Come listen to this panel discuss research, opportunities and concerns for such a model in Washington State.

Chris Bandoli: Senior Vice President, WSHA

Janet Varon: Executive Director, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Jeff Coopersmith: Partner, Coopersmith Law

Value-based care holds great promise, but getting it right requires thinking differently about data analytics. Join these leaders to hear strategies to help cut through the noise around value-based care and get to real solutions. They’ll cover gaps they see in analytics tools and capabilities, consider key metrics every leader needs to think about, and offer new perspectives on technologies.

Gordon Moore, MD: Senior Medical Director, Populations & Payment Solutions, 3M Health Information Systems

Benjamin Yu, MD, PhD: Vice President, Medical Informatics & Genomics, Interpreta

Working with “unusual” suspects in health care today is increasingly becoming the norm.  Finding new and innovative ways to collaborate in the interests of patients and financial sustainability takes an openness and collaborative approach that is new to the more traditional health care sector. This panel of market leaders will talk through their experiences in bringing new partnerships and collaborations to the market in Washington State.

John "Espi" Espinola, MD: Executive Vice President, Healthcare Services, Premera Blue Cross

Tom Donohue: Managing Partner, Hall Render

Lloyd David: Chief Executive Officer, The Polyclinic