HP X CHIBE X LDI Policy Seminar: Liz Fowler, JD, PhD, Former Director of the CMMI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
12:00pm - 1:00pm • Colonial Penn Center Auditorium
2026-02-03 12:00:00 2026-02-03 13:00:00 America/New_York HP X CHIBE X LDI Policy Seminar: Liz Fowler, JD, PhD, Former Director of the CMMI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Registration for this event is required. You can register here: https://share.hsforms.com/1uOsbW5WGR3a83Fluxioe3g5gwp1. This event is co-sponsored by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and the Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics. "Health Policy at a Crossroads: Protecting Progress, Building for the Future." About the Talk: The U.S. health system is experiencing a period of substantial uncertainty, with high stakes for patients, providers, and policymakers. Drawing on more than two decades at the center of U.S. health reform – from playing a role in drafting the Medicare Part D law and the Affordable Care Act to leading the CMS Innovation Center – Liz Fowler examines where U.S. health policy stands today and what comes next. She will explore recent policy developments, including the debate over coverage following historic Medicaid cuts, ongoing uncertainty around ACA subsidies, the continuing challenges facing Medicare, and the future of value-based care. Fowler distills lessons from past reform efforts and outlines a pragmatic agenda for protecting progress while building a stronger, more sustainable health system. About the Speaker: Dr. Liz Fowler is a nationally recognized expert in federal health policy and a visionary leader with a proven record of success in both public and private sector executive roles. Most recently, Dr. Fowler was Deputy Administrator and Director of the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In that role, she was responsible for advancing innovative payment and care delivery models in Medicare and Medicaid to promote value-based care on a national scale. Under her leadership, the CMS Innovation Center launched a new strategy focused on accountable care and designed, announced, and administered 37 payment and care delivery reform models impacting nearly 200,000 hospitals, physicians and 57 million patients between 2022 to 2024. These value-based payment models have provided an important testing ground and scaling opportunity for innovative start-ups and health care disrupters. Prior to leading the Innovation Center, she was Executive Vice President of programs at The Commonwealth Fund and Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. In 2011-2012, she served as special assistant to President Obama on health care and economic policy at the National Economic Council to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As Chief Health Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, she played a major role in the drafting and passage of the ACA in 2010, and she also played a key role drafting the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA). Dr. Fowler has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health services research. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a law degree (JD) from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Fowler is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2022. Colonial Penn Center Auditorium Penn Medical Ethics
Registration for this event is required. You can register here: https://share.hsforms.com/1uOsbW5WGR3a83Fluxioe3g5gwp1.
This event is co-sponsored by the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and the Center for Health Incentives & Behavioral Economics.
"Health Policy at a Crossroads: Protecting Progress, Building for the Future."
About the Talk: The U.S. health system is experiencing a period of substantial uncertainty, with high stakes for patients, providers, and policymakers. Drawing on more than two decades at the center of U.S. health reform – from playing a role in drafting the Medicare Part D law and the Affordable Care Act to leading the CMS Innovation Center – Liz Fowler examines where U.S. health policy stands today and what comes next. She will explore recent policy developments, including the debate over coverage following historic Medicaid cuts, ongoing uncertainty around ACA subsidies, the continuing challenges facing Medicare, and the future of value-based care. Fowler distills lessons from past reform efforts and outlines a pragmatic agenda for protecting progress while building a stronger, more sustainable health system.
About the Speaker: Dr. Liz Fowler is a nationally recognized expert in federal health policy and a visionary leader with a proven record of success in both public and private sector executive roles. Most recently, Dr. Fowler was Deputy Administrator and Director of the Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In that role, she was responsible for advancing innovative payment and care delivery models in Medicare and Medicaid to promote value-based care on a national scale. Under her leadership, the CMS Innovation Center launched a new strategy focused on accountable care and designed, announced, and administered 37 payment and care delivery reform models impacting nearly 200,000 hospitals, physicians and 57 million patients between 2022 to 2024. These value-based payment models have provided an important testing ground and scaling opportunity for innovative start-ups and health care disrupters.
Prior to leading the Innovation Center, she was Executive Vice President of programs at The Commonwealth Fund and Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. In 2011-2012, she served as special assistant to President Obama on health care and economic policy at the National Economic Council to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As Chief Health Counsel at the Senate Finance Committee, she played a major role in the drafting and passage of the ACA in 2010, and she also played a key role drafting the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA).
Dr. Fowler has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health services research. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a law degree (JD) from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Fowler is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2022.