For the past 10 years, Ms. Amal Abu-Rahma has been representing the State of California in regulating Health Care Service Plans/HMOs. As the senior-most attorney in the Office of Enforcement of the Department of Managed Health Care, Ms. Abu-Rahma has been litigating against licensees and enforcing statutory mandates to ensure accountability and quality of care in the managed care industry. Implementing innovative investigatory techniques, as well as maximizing the traditional methods, during her tenure at the Department Ms. Abu-Rahma has netted groundbreaking results in collecting administrative penalties totaling over $5 million, implementing systemic corrective action plans, and revamping problematic business models. Ms. Abu-Rahma earned a Communications Degree from UCLA as well as a Law Degree from UC Davis. Before joining the Department, Ms. Abu-Rahma litigated complex medical malpractice and elder abuse cases, as well as health care provider and facility reimbursement actions. Ms. Abu-Rahma is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Managed Care Regulators, which has recently merged with NASHP, and locally sits on the Board of Women Lawyers of Sacramento. In her spare time, Ms. Abu-Rahma volunteers as an Arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau.
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Amal Abu-Rahma
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Heidi Arndt
Heidi Arndt is the Director of the Division of Special Programs, Medicare Drug and Health Plan Contract Administration Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In her seven years at CMS, Heidi has worked in various positions across the three centers and the regional office with responsibilities that have included Medicare fee schedule development, oversight of long term care enforcement and State relations in Medicaid, and oversight of Medicare Advantage deeming and targeted appeals monitoring. She joined the Medicare Drug and Health Plan Administration Group as Director of the Division of Special Programs in February 2009. Prior to coming to CMS, Heidi worked for Ernst and Young as a health care consultant, the Governor of Pennsylvania as a Bureau Director of Quality - a part of State Medicaid reform efforts, and for two private insurance plans overseeing the operations of Medicare and Medicaid products. Heidi has a Masters in Health Administration and Policy from George Washington University School of Medicine. -
William Ashmore
William Ashmore serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the State of Alabama Employees’ Insurance Board based in Montgomery, Alabama. He has administered the health benefit plans for over 125,000 active and retired State and local government employees and their dependents for more than 20 years.
Mr. Ashmore is nationally recognized for his innovative approaches to worksite wellness programs and managing retiree liabilities. Over the years, the State of Alabama has tapped his abilities as a veteran leader to implement several new healthcare programs. He was a lead architect of the 2004 Alabama legislative health care reforms that have improved the benefits for the employees while saving the State millions of dollars annually. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree, with a major in Accounting from Auburn University. Ashmore became a Certified Public Accountant in 1990.
William and his wife Jennie have three children. -
Chris Atchison
Christopher G. Atchison is the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, College of Public Health, University of Iowa and Director of the Iowa Hygienic Laboratory, the state’s designated public health laboratory. Mr. Atchison is also the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Clinical Professor in Health Management and Policy at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health. In addition, he is the Director of the Institute for Public Health Practice and teaches the College’s introduction to public health course. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Atchison served for eight years as Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health (1991-1999).
