Meet Our Medicaid Technical Practice Experts

Ian Breunig is a Senior Associate and health economist in Abt’s Domestic Division. His work centers on using Medicaid and Medicare administrative databases to examine the impact of supportive services on housing stability. He also focuses on healthcare utilization among aged and disabled low-income beneficiaries, and the impacts of better integrated care on outcomes for Medicaid/CHIP-enrolled children with behavioral healthcare needs and at high risk of out-of-home placement. His project work additionally addresses the design of alternative payment models for Medicare and Medicaid and the effects on provider payments, utilization rates, and quality metrics.

Moira Forbes has more than 25 years of experience working with state and federal agencies on Medicaid and CHIP policy and operations. She focuses on providing time-sensitive, evidence-based analysis to support policymaking, operational planning, and program evaluation. Prior to joining Abt, Forbes was the Principal Policy Director at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), leading their work on Medicaid and CHIP financing and payment, managed care, program integrity, and state capacity. She is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and has been appointed to positions on many civic, educational, and community organizations.

Matt Gillingham is an economist and experienced healthcare data and analytics leader with more than two decades of experience developing innovative applications of data science, data analytics, and data, particularly Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial healthcare data. He has created and executed new offerings that include “as a service” solutions for data, data analytics, data science, data quality, data visualization, and health outcomes measurement. Gillingham has directed teams of up to 200 staff across business development and delivery functions, including teams of directors and deputy directors. Senior executives routinely placed him in critical enterprise and unit transformation roles.

Caroline Logan is an expert in state and federal health policy. Dr. Logan is trained in mixed methods policy evaluation and has over 15 years of experience conducting policy evaluations and managing data collection/acquisition and analysis focused on the impact of changes to health policy on access, beneficiary experience, and utilization. Her expertise includes healthcare financing and advanced payment models, state Medicaid policy innovations, and social determinants of health such as the intersection of housing and health and the integration of healthcare and social services.

Susan Longley has more than 18 years of experience leading large-scale policy implementation and change management efforts for numerous federal clients, such as CMS. She has collaborated with key stakeholders to maintain mission-critical initiatives in areas such as health care quality, public reporting, performance measurement, and domestic preparedness. She has implemented growth and diversification strategies across multiple sectors, including health and homeland security.

Kaitlin Sheedy is a TA expert with over 12 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating community, state, and national programs. She directs a multi-million-dollar TA program to build the capacity of MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations and community-based organizations as part of the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program in Massachusetts. She designs and facilitates responsive and customized multi-modal TA and peer-to-peer learning opportunities for health care and community-based organizations, state health officials, researchers, and public health practitioners. Sheedy conducts large-scale qualitative data collection activities with state Medicaid agency representatives, social service providers, healthcare providers, state housing officials, and Medicaid beneficiaries to assess program implementation and impact.

Kristen Welker-Hood brings 30 years of healthcare experience comprising acute and post-acute care nursing and public health to her work at Abt. Dr. Welker-Hood’s areas of research include clinical quality measurement, healthcare continuous improvement, addressing adverse social determinants of health, and chronic disease health disparities. Her policy experience includes working with federal representatives and elected officials on the national, state, and local levels to set policies driven to improve the lives of our most vulnerable populations. An experienced principal investigator, she has led efforts to improve care delivery for Veterans Health Administration Medical Centers and the Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Primary Health Care. She currently leads work on an Abt contract with CMS Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services on state Medicaid contract reviews.

Alan White is a nationally renowned health economist, highly respected for his creative, data-driven solutions to clients’ complex information and research needs. He has more than 25 years of experience on federal and state research projects.  An expert in nursing home quality, payment, and policy, Dr. White has led Abt’s project supporting CMS’s Nursing Home Compare website and Five-Star Quality Rating System since 2008.  He also leads a project for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission that focuses on developing a methodology for measuring payments and costs for Medicaid nursing facility residents, building on his earlier research comparing acuity levels for Medicare and Medicaid residents. He is currently working with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to implement a new Medicaid payment system for nursing homes. .

Katharine Witgert is a health services researcher with 20 years of health care policy experience. She specializes in Medicaid policy as a platform to address the health and social needs of vulnerable populations, including women, children, and persons with disabilities. She leads mixed-methods program evaluations to assess program implementation and impact. She provides TA to state officials in implementing Medicaid reforms and building Medicaid agency partnerships with public health, behavioral health, and social services programs. Before coming to Abt, Witgert led work focused on systems of care for vulnerable populations at the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP).