Johns Hopkins to host conversation with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure

The Johns Hopkins Health Policy Forum welcomes Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for a virtual conversation on Friday, Jan. 7, with Sarah Szanton, dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

Image caption: Chiquita Brooks-LaSure

The discussion, which begins at 11 a.m., will cover a range of topics, including Brooks-LaSure's career in health policy, CMS's work to catalyze innovation in the delivery of care, how nursing in the community improves population health, and the challenge of nursing workforce shortages.

Johns Hopkins faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the general public are invited to attend the event; advance registration is required.

"Chiquita Brooks-LaSure is a remarkable policy advocate who prioritizes access, equity, and improved health for all," Szanton said. "Her vision aligns with the work of nurses, and particularly the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, in our leadership to be change agents for health equity. We are looking forward to the perspectives and insights she will bring to the conversation."

Brooks-LaSure is the fourth expert to participate in the Health Policy Forum series, which launched in fall 2020 to highlight the university's engagement with key leaders on matters of health policy and health care. Previous events featured Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (October 2020); Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (May 2021); and Robert M. Davis, CEO and president of Merck (October 2021).

A former policy official, Brooks-LaSure has decades of experience in the federal government, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector, and she played a key role in guiding the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, through passage and implementation. As deputy director for policy at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and earlier at the Department of Health and Human Services as director of coverage policy, Brooks-LaSure led the agency's implementation of ACA coverage and insurance reform policy provisions. 

She began her career as a program examiner and lead Medicaid analyst for the Office of Management and Budget, coordinating Medicaid policy development for the health financing branch. Her role included evaluating policy options and briefing White House and federal agency officials on policy recommendations regarding the uninsured, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Today as the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, she oversees many of those programs including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the HealthCare.gov health insurance marketplace. 

The Health Policy Forum series is jointly hosted by Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, Carey Business School, and School of Nursing along with Johns Hopkins Medicine.