06.23.22 Hall Center Virtual Grand Rounds Summer Series with Heather Howard, JD, Professor of the Practice at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs

When the federal public health emergency (PHE) expires, so too will the Medicaid “continuous coverage” requirement that has allowed people to retain Medicaid coverage and get needed care during the pandemic. When continuous enrollment is discontinued, states will restart eligibility redeterminations for Medicaid enrollees, and the stakes are high – as many as 16 million people could lose health insurance coverage.

What are states and the federal government doing to ensure smooth coverage transitions and to mitigate coverage losses, and what are the health equity implications of what could be a seismic transition?

Heather Howard is a Professor of the Practice at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where she co-directs the Global Health Program and is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Health & Wellbeing. She teaches courses in implementation of the Affordable Care Act, state and local health policy, public health and politics, the social determinants of health, and global health policy. She is also director of the State Health and Value Strategies program, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded program focused on assisting states with transforming their health care systems to be affordable, equitable and innovative.

Howard served as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Health and Senior Services from 2008-2010, overseeing a staff of 1,700 with a budget of $3.5 billion. In 2017 and 2018, she co-chaired New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s health care transition committee. She also has significant federal experience, having worked as Senator Jon Corzine's Chief of Staff, as Associate Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and Senior Policy Advisor for First Lady Hillary Clinton. She received her B.A. from Duke University and her J.D. from NYU School of Law.