BCBSMA Foundation Names Katherine Howitt as Vice President of Policy and Research
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation today announced that Katherine Howitt has been appointed vice president of policy and research. Howitt succeeds Kaitlyn Kenney Walsh, who was recently named president and CEO of the Foundation.
Howitt will oversee the Foundation’s policy and research agenda, guiding work focused on health insurance coverage and access to care, behavioral health, and racial inequalities in health.
“I have had the privilege of working closely with Katherine and seeing the insightful and collaborative way she approaches her work,” said Kenney Walsh, president & CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “Her deep knowledge of the Massachusetts health care coverage and financing landscape and foresight in identifying key policy issues to elevate and analyze make her the perfect person for this position. I am excited to see her take on this new role and continue to strengthen the Foundation’s impact.”
Howitt previously served as director of the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute, a dedicated arm of the Foundation’s policy and research agenda that aims to promote the development of effective Medicaid policy solutions (MassHealth in Massachusetts) through research and policy analysis. In that role, she oversaw the release of an influential report on Massachusetts’ Estate Recovery policy, which documented how the policy disproportionately harmed low-income families and perpetuated intergenerational poverty. The report and its accompanying media coverage helped spur changes to state law that will reduce financial harm on MassHealth members and their families.
Howitt also expanded the Foundation’s role as an educational resource on Medicaid policy by leading webinars and briefings that reached hundreds of policymakers, advocates, and community-based organizations. She has been invited by MassHealth to serve with other community experts as an advisor to MassHealth on the Delivery System Technical Advisory Committee and the Payment Policy Advisory Board.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Howitt worked at Community Catalyst where she led campaigns to expand and protect Medicaid coverage at the state and federal levels.
Howitt holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from McGill University.
About the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
The mission of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation is to ensure equitable access to health care for all those in the Commonwealth who are economically, racially, culturally or socially marginalized. The Foundation was established in 2001 with an endowment from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It operates separately from the company and is governed by its own Board of Directors. For more information, visit www.bluecrossmafoundation.org.
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