Enekwechi, Williams Elected to Alliance for Health Policy Board of Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kelly Appenzeller
(202) 789-2300, kappenzeller@allhealthpolicy.org

Washington, D.C. (January 9, 2020) — The Alliance for Health Policy is pleased to announce that Adaeze Enekwechi, Ph.D., M.P.P., president of IMPAQ, and Ronald Williams, MBA, chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC, have been elected to serve as members on the organization’s Board of Directors. Enekwechi and Williams will each serve three-year terms beginning on January 1, 2020, and will help the Alliance realize its mission of helping policymakers and the public better understand health policy, the root of the nation’s health care issues, and the trade-offs posed by various proposals for change.

“The Alliance Board of Directors is thrilled that Adaeze and Ron have chosen to join us in our effort to significantly improve the health of the American people by informing bipartisan solutions to address our nation’s most pressing health care issues,” shared Reed V. Tuckson, board chair of the Alliance for Health Policy. “Their expertise at the highest levels of government, private sector, and medical care delivery will be a welcome addition to the diverse expertise represented on our board.”

Dr. Enekwechi has developed a deep understanding of our nation’s health care system through a range of experiences. Through her experiences at the Office of Management and Budget, The Lewin Group, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, she gained a strong grasp of federal policies and programs, including delivery system reform, payment systems, and other critical issues in American health care. In addition to her current role at IMPAQ, Enekwechi is a research associate professor at George Washington University’s Milken School of Public Health.

Mr. Williams brings a unique expertise to the Alliance as exemplified by his tenure as president and chief executive officer of the diversified benefits company Aetna Inc., where he focused on bringing providers, insurers, employers, and consumers together to create value-based payment models for care delivery. He founded RW2 Enterprises to serve as a base for his corporate board service, private equity, public policy and philanthropy and also to counsel C-Suite corporate executives on transformation leadership practices and business strategy.

“Adaeze and Ron bring extraordinary health care leadership and policy expertise to our board at a critical juncture for health policy in America,” said Sarah J. Dash, president and CEO of the Alliance for Health Policy. “I look forward to working with them in the coming years to help the Alliance continue fostering dialogue and relationships that cross ideological and industry lines.”

The Alliance expresses its appreciation to its outgoing members Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., director and Robert J. Margolis M.D. Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and Nancy Dickey, M.D., president emeritus of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Their leadership has been essential in overseeing the evolution of the Alliance to achieve its vision of creating a better health care system achieved through the balanced exchange of evidence, experience, and multiple perspectives.

Read more about Dr. Enekwechi, Mr. Williams, and the Alliance here:

Adaeze Enekwechi, Ph.D., MPP

Dr. Enekwechi is President of IMPAQ, a policy research and analytics firm delivering evidence that shapes the world. IMPAQ brings clear answers to the most important questions in health care, workforce, and human services, through cutting-edge research, analytics, and technical support. Dr. Enekwechi’s leadership and strategic oversight across all practice areas allows the firm to drive policies, programs, and large-scale decisions that affect communities across the globe. Prior to joining IMPAQ, Dr. Enekwechi served as Vice President for Policy, Strategy, and Analytics with McDermott+Consulting. Previously, she served as the Associate Director for Health Programs at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Obama. As the Federal government’s chief health care budget official, she provided policy, management, and regulatory oversight for over $1 trillion in spending on a range of Federal programs, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and all Federal health agencies. At the OMB, Dr. Enekwechi managed the review and approval of all major Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation reform proposals, as well as Quality Payment Program rulemaking. She also managed OMB processes for reviewing several Food and Drug Administration policies, state Medicaid negotiations, Zika, cancer, and other major public health funding requests. Dr. Enekwechi is highly experienced with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, playing a key role in driving ACA budget, policy, strategy, and operational coordination with various Federal agencies. Dr. Enekwechi completed a BA at the University of Iowa, an MPP at the American University, and a PhD in Health Services and Policy from the University of Iowa. Her research area focused on the use of long-term care services among older adults and addressing disparities in access and quality of care. She also has completed postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. Dr. Enekwechi is a Research Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Her teaching focuses on Federal health policy, the US health care infrastructure, health equity, and evidence-based policymaking. She also serves on the boards of directors and advisors for a number of health care organizations.

Ronald Williams, MBA

Ronald A. Williams is Chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC and is the former Chairman and CEO of health insurance giant Aetna Inc.  Mr. Williams is the bestselling author of “Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization”, developed from Mr. Williams’s own personal and professional journey, as well as the experiences of some of America’s leading CEOs.  Mr. Williams focuses his energy on health care value creation, private equity, values-based leadership and transformational change.  Through his firm, RW2 Enterprises, Mr. Williams counsels C-Suite corporate executives on strategy and transformational leadership.  He is Operating Advisor to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and serves as Chairman of portfolio companies agilon health and naviHealth.  He is a Director of American Express, The Boeing Company and Johnson & Johnson.  Mr. Williams became President and joined Aetna’s Board in 2002.  In 2006, he became Chairman and CEO.  Under his leadership, Aetna was named FORTUNE’s most admired company in the Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care category for three consecutive years.  In 2011, the year he retired, the company ranked 77th on the Fortune 100 list.  Mr. Williams is Vice Chairman of The Conference Board, a member of the Presidents’ Circle of the National Academies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, a non-profit, non-partisan, business-led public policy organization.  He also serves on the boards of NAF (National Academy Foundation) and the Peterson Institute for International Economics and is a member of the Peterson Center on Healthcare Advisory Board and the RAND Health Advisory Board.  His previous board service includes Save The Children, Vice Chairman of The Business Council, Chairman of the Healthcare Leadership Council, and Chairman of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare.  He was a member of the MIT Corporation from 2014 to 2019 and served on President Obama’s President’s Management Advisory Board from 2011 to 2017.  He is a graduate of Roosevelt University and holds an M.S. in Management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About the Alliance for Health Policy:

The Alliance for Health Policy is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping policymakers and the public better understand health policy, the root of the nation’s health care issues, and the trade-offs posed by various proposals for change. We believe a better health care system begins with a balanced exchange of evidence, experience, and multiple perspectives. Regardless of their point of view, our audience recognizes the Alliance’s reputation as a well-respected source for unbiased health policy information.

Learn more about the Alliance at allhealthpolicy.org.