Sally Coberly serves as deputy director of the Forum, where her principal responsibilities include managing internal operations, overseeing grant writing and reporting to external funders, and developing programming on private market issues. Prior to joining the Forum in June 2000, she was director of public policy at the Washington Business Group on Health (WBGH), a membership organization of large employers. Before joining WBGH, Dr. Coberly was a senior research associate at the University of Southern California's Andrus Gerontology Center (1979-1990), where she conducted research on a variety of aging and health care issues including long-term care systems development. She directed the Andrus Center's National Policy Center on Employment and Retirement from 1983 to 1985. Dr. Coberly was elected a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America in 1985. Dr. Coberly received her PhD degree in 1979 from the University of Southern California's Center for Public Affairs. She holds a master's degree in urban and regional planning, also from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor's degree in political science from Kansas State University.

Monique Martineau is the publications director of the Forum, where she edits and oversees the production of all written products. She is also responsible for visual presentation of materials in print and on the Web site, and she acts as liaison to several vendors for design, printing, and Web site hosting. Ms. Martineau came to the Forum from the Editorial Department of the journal Science, where she was responsible for working with research scientists, writers, and editors to ensure accuracy and integrity on the magazine's research and book review pages. Before working at Science, she held a predoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health researching damage to the brain caused by excessive exposure to alcohol. Ms. Martineau holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the College of William and Mary and a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University.

Martha O. Blaxall joined the National Health Policy Forum as a senior fellow in March 2008. Her work focuses on the opportunities provided by innovation and technology change to reduce the projected rate of growth in health care costs, including the rapid rise in federal spending for health care. Dr. Blaxall previously worked at the Brookings Institution, where she designed and implemented fundraising strategies for the economic and policy research being carried out by Economic Studies' scholars. She was instrumental in the formation of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Research and in the Budgeting for National Priorities Project. Dr. Blaxall has been a visiting scholar at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, and at Yale University's Center for the Study of Globalization and a vice president/senior economist at DAI, a major U.S. firm engaged in international economic development worldwide. She served as the first director of research at the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), as a senior research scholar at the Institute of Medicine, and as a budget examiner of health care programs and economist at the Office of Management and Budget. She also taught health policy courses at George Washington and Georgetown Universities. Dr. Blaxall holds a PhD degree in international economics from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA degree in economics from Wellesley College.

Judith D. Moore is senior fellow at the National Health Policy Forum, where she specializes in work related to the health needs of low-income vulnerable populations. Prior to joining the Forum staff, Ms. Moore was a long-time federal employee in the legislative and executive branches of government. At the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), she directed the Medicaid program, the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, and served as a special assistant to two administrators. In earlier federal service, she was special assistant to the secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) and held positions in the Public Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission. She also worked as a private health care consultant. Ms. Moore received her undergraduate degree in history and political science and pursued graduate studies in law and public administration. She has spoken to a wide variety of audiences and presented congressional testimony on topics related to public policy and administration, Medicaid and Medicare, health financing, social insurance, and the legislative process. She is the coauthor of a political history of Medicaid, Medicaid Politics and Policy 1965–2007.

Laura A. Dummit, principal policy analyst, is responsible for health care financing and provider payment issues. Her areas of interest include the organization and delivery of health care services; physician payment, including Medicare’s sustainable growth rate; health care markets; and post-acute care. Prior to joining the Forum in early 2005, Ms. Dummit was the health care director for Medicare payment issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). During her seven years with the GAO, Ms. Dummit testified before and reported to the Congress on a range of topics including prescription drug costs, skilled nursing facilities, geographic differences in providers’ costs, and physician payment. Before joining the GAO, Ms. Dummit was the deputy director of the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (now MedPAC) where she led analyses of post-acute care and ambulatory care providers. Ms. Dummit has also held positions with the Alpha Center for Health Planning and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has a master's degree in health policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Michele Orza joined the Forum as a principal policy analyst in February 2008. Her areas of interest include evidence-based health practice and policy, public health infrastructure and systems, global health, health science and technology; and the portfolios overseen by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Prior to joining the Forum, Dr. Orza was a scholar at the Institute of Medicine with the Board on Global Health, where she served as study director for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Evaluation. While at the IOM, she also served as acting director of the Board on Health Care Services. Previously, she had served as assistant director of the Health Care Team at the Government Accountability Office, where she was responsible for managing study teams evaluating a wide range of federal programs. For several years she also served as director of science and research at the American College of Cardiology where her department was responsible for supporting the college's evidence-based medicine activities. Before coming to Washington, DC, she worked as a research assistant in the Technology Assessment Group at the Harvard School of Public Health on a wide variety of methods for and applications of systematic reviews and meta-analysis and other tools to promote and support evidence-based public health. Dr. Orza received both her master's degree in health policy and management and her doctorate in program evaluation from the Harvard School of Public Health and received the first BA degree in women's studies from Harvard/Radcliffe University.

Carol V. O'Shaughnessy, principal policy analyst, joined the Forum staff in April 2007. Her work focuses on aging services and home and community-based long-term care. Prior to joining the Forum, Ms. O'Shaughnessy spent 27 years at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) as a specialist in social legislation. In that capacity, Ms. O'Shaughnessy assisted congressional committees and members of Congress on a wide range of issues related to services for older people, including legislation on the Older Americans Act and Medicaid home and community-based long-term care services, as well as services for people with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. While at CRS, Ms. O'Shaughnessy testified before congressional committees on federal long-term care policy and authored and coordinated research on state systems of long-term care. Ms. O'Shaughnessy has also held positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the Administration on Aging and the Medical Services Administration), the Department of Elder Affairs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the International Federation of Institutes for Social and Socio-Research in Louvain, Belgium. She also worked as a discharge planner for Medicare patients at Alexandria Hospital (now Inova Alexandria Hospital). Ms. O'Shaughnessy received her undergraduate degree from Dunbarton College and her master's degree in medical sociology from the Catholic University of America.

Christie Provost Peters joined the National Health Policy Forum as a senior research associate in 2006. Her work focuses on Medicaid and health care for vulnerable populations including special needs populations and dual eligibles for Medicaid and Medicare. Ms. Peters spent 12 years as a policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. At the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, she worked in the Office of Strategic Planning and the Office of Legislation on a variety of health care financing and access issues, including the Medicare drug discount card, the Medicaid drug rebate program, managed care, maternal and child health, working disabled, and dual eligibles. In the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Ms. Peters worked on a variety of legislative, budgetary, and regulatory issues concerning the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. She has also worked as an independent private health care consultant and on Capitol Hill. Ms. Peters received her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Rochester and her master's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.

Jennifer Ryan is a principal policy analyst at the National Health Policy Forum. Her research, analysis and writing focuses on health care issues affecting low-income populations, including access and coverage through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In addition, Ms. Ryan focuses on policy issues related to the uninsured and the ongoing discussion about how to expand health coverage through public and private sector initiatives. Her work has also included analysis of welfare reform, individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). Prior to joining the Forum in 2001, Ms. Ryan was the technical director of the SCHIP program at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS, formerly HCFA). In that capacity, she oversaw many aspects of SCHIP policy and administration, including development of the SCHIP regulations. Ms. Ryan has been working on SCHIP since the program was enacted in 1997, working as a special assistant for the co-chair of the SCHIP steering committee and then covering Medicaid and SCHIP issues for the HCFA administrator. Ms. Ryan joined HCFA's legislative office in 1996 after serving two years in HCFA's Medicaid Bureau as an eligibility policy analyst. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Lisa Sprague is a principal policy analyst with the National Health Policy Forum. She works on a range of health care issues, including quality and accountability, health information technology, private markets, chronic and long-term care, and veterans' health. Previously, she was director of legislative affairs for a trade association representing preferred provider organizations and other open-model managed care networks. Ms. Sprague represented the industry to Congress, federal agencies, and state insurance commissioners; managed the association's policy development process; and edited a biweekly legislative newsletter. Ms. Sprague came to Washington in 1989 as manager of employee benefits policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Her interest in health policy arose in her earlier work as a human resources manager and benefits administrator with Taft Broadcasting (later known as Great American Broadcasting) in Cincinnati, Ohio. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from Wellesley College and a master of business administration degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Mary Ellen Stahlman joined the National Health Policy Forum as a senior research associate in 2006. Her work focuses primarily on Medicare and health care financing issues, including the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Ms. Stahlman joined the Forum following an 18-year career at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), most recently as the deputy director of the Office of Policy. In that capacity, she was instrumental in CMS's development and analytic work behind the Medicare prescription drug benefit and the discount card program, and she directed a broad range of studies related to Medicare Part D, prescription drug pricing, and other Medicare issues. Ms. Stahlman has also held senior positions in CMS and has worked in a Medicare managed care plan and on Capitol Hill. She has a bachelor of arts degree from Bates College and a master of health services administration degree from the George Washington University.

Jessamy Taylor, principal policy analyst, joined the National Health Policy Forum in 2004. Her research, analysis, and writing focuses on the health care safety net and issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. Prior to coming to the Forum, Ms. Taylor worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services managing the legislative portfolio of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation and directing a number of rural health systems development grant programs in the federal Office of Rural Health Policy within HRSA. She began her work with HRSA in 1999 when she joined the Office of the Administrator to work on outreach activities for the State Children's Health Insurance Program and a multi-agency oral health initiative. Ms. Taylor began her federal career as a Presidential Management Intern in the Social Security Administration’s Office of Disability and Income Security Programs. She holds a bachelor's degree in political and social thought from the University of Virginia and a master of public policy degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

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