Senior Vice President, State Affairs

Keynote Speaker Topics: State Policy & Regulations

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Biography

Ms. Gassaway is a passionate health care advocate and is the Senior Vice President for State Affairs for America’s Health Insurance Plans.  AHIP is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry. AHIP’s members provide health and supplemental benefits through employer-sponsored coverage, the individual insurance market, and public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Overseeing state affairs for AHIP, she is responsible for assisting in legislative, regulatory and policy advocacy efforts in the states, and activities at various political and regulatory organizations, such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and National Governors Association.  She also is focused on federal and state driven efforts regarding the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Prior to coming to AHIP, Ms. Gassaway had an active tenure working in government affairs and project management.  She began her career in 1994 at PacifiCare Health Systems, now a UnitedHealth Care company.  At PacifiCare, she was the Director of Regulatory Advocacy over a nine-state region.  She also worked for CIGNA Corporation as the Western Region Government Affairs Director.  In these positions, she was responsible for tracking, analyzing and managing proposed legislation, regulation and other political initiatives that affected medical, dental, vision, pharmacy and behavioral health issues.  She participated in education and policy collaborations with brokers, employers, health care providers, consumer advocates and other key health care stakeholders on a variety of matters.

She also served as Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the California Association of Health Plans.  In this capacity, she oversaw legal and regulatory issue management for 40 full service health plans and Medi-Cal managed care plans in California, who provide benefits for over 21 million enrollees.  She was responsible for managing the legal and regulatory relationships with the Department of Managed Health Care, Office of Patient Advocate, Department of Health Services, Major Risk Medical Insurance Board, Department of Insurance, and the Centers or Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Ms. Gassaway has a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration from California State University, Long Beach focusing on public policy and health care law.  She received a Bachelors Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.