“High profile with lots of internal and external resources and the comp doesn’t hurt either.”, Ignagni led American Association of Health for 10 years before becoming head of AHIP after its merger with Health Insurance Association of America. Ignagni, who led the insurers group for 22 years, was regarded as a very effective leader and was a major force during the crafting of the Affordable Care Act, or ObamaCare, in 2009 and 2010. Karen Ignagni was the woman who could have killed Obamacare. She “really believes in this broader idea of quality coverage for all.”, “She was the face of the industry when it was attacked,” Gellert said “Without compromising her beliefs, she handled all of that with integrity and dignity, and I think that was because form the start she was committed to the end point.”. Instead, the nation’s top health insurance lobbyist helped President Barack Obama to pass his sweeping health reform. He bashed the insurers, saying lax laws and a broken system enabled them to dump customers after a cancer diagnosis or deny treatment. Karen Ignagni was the woman who could have killed Obamacare. Medicare Advantage plans provide more and better benefits than the FFS program. She is involved in health care reform in the United States, working to benefit health insurance companies. Some conservatives regard her as an Obamacare enabler, submitting the industry to vast government oversight in exchange for new customers receiving millions in federal subsidies. The industry took it on the chin, but later decided to work — most of the time — with the White House on reform. This entry was posted in EGYPT NEWS, WORLD NEWS and tagged America's Health Insurance Plans, Barack Obama, Insurance, Karen Ignagni, obama, ObamaCare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, United States on November 15, 2013 by khaled. That lack of love was one of the levers Obama pushed as he began to stir up support for health reform. “The AHIP job is one of the more sexier jobs in Washington,” Adler said. Karen Ignagni (b. Every second, Whitepages helps 19 people do reverse phone lookups, find people, and get background reports, including public records, in order to make smarter, safer decisions. In the last few months, a lot of her focus was not on the health law but the soaring prices of prescription drugs, and the risks of rising health care prices from hospital mergers and consolidation. Rich Umbdenstock, the president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, also plans to retire this year. She leaves at a watershed moment. Obviously, she is going to have strong political opinions. Ignagni also says that FFS program… [12], U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The New Republic: Health Care Lobbyist Playing Nice, Best Protector of Profits at the Expense of Our Health, Obama Battles the Political Gauntlet of Health Care, Seniors lobby challenges health insurance report, Health Reform Carries Heavy Price, Insurers Claim, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karen_Ignagni&oldid=993234089, Businesspeople from Providence, Rhode Island, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 December 2020, at 14:35. Karen Ignagni, the insurance industry’s top lobbyist, is widely credited for the productive relationship between insurers and the Obama administration in implementing the Affordable Care Act. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. It wasn’t always an easy alliance. Karen Ignagni was the woman who could have killed Obamacare. Before joining AAHP, she was a director of the AFL-CIO's Department of Employee Benefits. But it's actually from a letter sent Thursday from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans -- the chief lobbyist for private health insurance companies. Republican lawmakers are blasting the Obama administration’s decision to exempt large numbers of people from having to buy insurance under Obamacare — a last-ditch attempt to help the millions of people who received insurance cancellation notices because of the new healthcare law. She blends a detailed knowledge of health policy with an intuitive feel for politics." But challenges of affordability and access remain. She will serve as president and CEO of the company starting Sept. 1., although she’s expected to leave AHIP in early June, before the Supreme Court ruling. [4], She received the Second Century Award for Excellence in Health Care. Ultimately, the industry, with Ignagni at the helm, decided to back the Affordable Care Act, which reshaped how her industry operates. Karen Ignagni, head of America’s Health Insurance Plans, suggested it this past week. [6] She is also an occasional object of derision, such as when Health Care for America Now group awarded Ignagni a "protector of profits" award. Today in a letter to the NY Times she actually tells it how it is. Karen Ignagni (b. At the other end of the spectrum, progressives saw her defending for-profit insurers that made out like gangbusters under a flawed health law that could have done even more for consumers. Next month, the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell will decide whether people in states using the federal health exchange can keep getting government subsidies to buy insurance, or whether the financial assistance should only be allowed in states running their own Obamacare markets. “It’s hard not to argue that she was one of the most successful and effective advocates for an industry in the last 20 years. We have information on 2 results for Karen Ignagni, including phone numbers and addresses. But Ignagni, one of the most powerful and visible women in the lobbying industry, who received roughly $2 million in compensation in 2013, was arguably the biggest player of the three. She may have the calm demeanor and soothing voice of a yoga instructor, but she’s packed with the intelligence and savvy to eviscerate opponents’ policy positions with a smile. WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 26: America's Health Insurance Plans President and CEO Karen Ignagni answers questions from reporters after a forum hosted by the Congressional Health Care Caucus on Capitol Hill October 26, 2009 in Washington, DC. A defeat for the administration would mean millions of people could lose their subsidies — and the insurance industry would face vast disruption. But Ignagni’s outward support helped build confidence in the drive for reform. [7], In June 2009, Ignagni addressed President Barack Obama: "You have our commitment to play, to contribute and to help pass health care reform this year". They didn’t really say so publicly—in fact they had their chief lobbyist, America’s Health Insurance Plans’ Karen Ignagni—claim to support reform. Insurance companies are worried that tinkering with Obamacare plans will destabilize the health insurance market. This entry was posted in EGYPT NEWS, WORLD NEWS and tagged America's Health Insurance Plans, Barack Obama, Insurance, Karen Ignagni, obama, ObamaCare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, United States on November 15, 2013 by khaled. Then she left to run a New York health plan with a downgraded credit rating. The Hill newspaper included her among Washington's most effective lobbyists in 2004. Previously she worked in the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as a staffer for Senator Claiborne Pell. She sits advisory groups and boards including the Board of the National Academy of Social Insurance, the Partnership for Prevention, and the Bryce Harlow Foundation. 1954, Providence, RI) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of EmblemHealth as of 9/1/2015, until which time she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), formerly HIAA (Health Insurance Association of America). Long time THCB readers will remember how several times I’ve called out AHIP president Karen Ignagni for being economical with the truth. “It required the insurance industry to be behind it,” said Joe Antos, a health care policy expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. EmblemHealth sent out an announcement of the move after POLITICO first reported Thursday about her departure. In an interview with USA Today she addressed 6… [2], Ignagni led the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) from 1993 until 2003 when it merged with the Health Insurance Association of America. The forum with feature Dr. Scott Cooper, President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Barnabas Hospital, Richard J. Donoghue, Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at NYU Langone Medical Center and Karen Ignagni, President and Chief Executive Officer of EmblemHealth. [1], Ignagni grew up in Providence, where her father was a fireman and mother worked at the city hall, her brother Robert currently resides in South Windsor, CT. She graduated from the Providence College, where she majored in political science, and from Loyola College Executive MBA program. Karen Ignagni serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of EmblemHealth, a New York City-based not-for-profit health insurance company. By ANNA PALMER, JENNIFER HABERKORN and PAUL DEMKO. Still, just because her opinions are strong does not necessarily mean her factual points are not valid. Medicare Advantage plans provide more and better benefits than the FFS program. “Without a doubt,” EmblemHealth CEO Karen Ignagni said on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade when asked about the impact of the current administration’s war on Obamacare. All the panelists agreed that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, as ObamaCare is routinely called, is at the beginning of the process and is a work in progress. Ignagni announced her departure from America’s Health Insurance Plans on Thursday. She is often mentioned as one of the most effective lobbyists and the most powerful people in healthcare. Veteran headhunter Ivan Adler said the top job at AHIP — which was born out of the 2003 merger of Health Insurance Association of America and American Association of Health Plans, which Ignagni headed — will be much sought after. Michael Barone on comments made by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Karen Ignagni, ... to freeze insurance companies out of Obamacare … It is the major political lobby for health insurance companies. [11] Ignagni defended the report on PBS Newshour against the accusation by Nancy-Ann DeParle, the director of the White House Office of Health Reform, that the "industry puts their special interest ahead of the national interests here". The chief lobbyist for health insurers, Karen Ignagni… [9] The study was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Karen Ignagni serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the EmblemHealth family of companies. Jay Gellert, president and CEO of Health Net, an AHIP member company, said after all that Ignagni had accomplished in setting up the regulatory infrastructure for the ACA in Washington, she had to be tempted to play it out on the ground. But on the regulatory minutiae required to implement a major piece of legislation, Obama administration officials and the insurance industry largely worked together on a shared goal: making an extraordinarily complicated law work in a hostile political environment. The CEOs of the largest for-profit health insurance corporations were very wary of Obamacare as it was being drafted on Capitol Hill. Missing out on the latest scoops? Posts about Karen Ignagni written by greatriversofhope. After more than two decades as a D.C. lobbying powerhouse, she’s going to run EmblemHealth, a big New York insurer. 1954, Providence, RI) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of EmblemHealth as of 9/1/2015, until which time she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), formerly HIAA (Health Insurance Association of America). “It was absolutely essential.”. "Without a doubt, there are still challenges that both sides [insurers and the Obama administration] are working through," says Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans. [3], Ignagni wrote articles on health care policy issues in The New York Times, USA Today, the New York Daily News, and New England Journal of Medicine, among others. Ignagni’s resignation marks the latest in a string of high-profile exoduses from Washington’s most powerful health care trade associations —some of whom joined Ignagni in playing significant roles in the passage and then the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Today in a letter to the NY Times she actually tells it how it is. Instead, the nation’s top health insurance lobbyist helped President Barack Obama to pass his sweeping health reform. She got her start in politics as an aide to then-Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) and also worked at the AFL-CIO as director of its employee benefits. Health insurance executives are headed to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the botched rollout of ObamaCare's enrollment system. We also found 2 background checks for Karen Ignagni, including criminal records. AHIP’s board is launching a national search for her successor. But it's actually from a letter sent Thursday from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans -- … After the law passed, much of the public animosity fell away. John Castellani has announced that he will retire as president and CEO of drug trade group PhRMA at the end of the year. She's been running America's Health Insurance Plans and one of its predecessor groups since 1993. The New York Times wrote in 1999 that "in a city teeming with health care lobbyists, Ms. Ignagni is widely considered one of the most effective. Ignagni, who did not respond to an email Thursday, has defended the health law — though not without caveats. Ignagni and insurance executives became familiar figures in the committee rooms on Capitol Hill, testifying in favor of an overhaul as lawmakers gathered information to write their bills. There are still significant points of contention: The industry hates a health insurance tax that helps finance Obamacare, and was incensed when the administration allowed once-canceled plans to continue to operate beyond 2014, which cost the industry big bucks. It provides millions of Americans with “the peace of mind that health insurance provides,” she said soon after that rough first enrollment season. [10] As described by Ignagni, "The report makes clear that several major provisions in the current legislative proposal will cause healthcare costs to increase far faster and higher than they would under the current system". She is involved in health care reform in the United States, working to benefit health insurance companies. But neither side underestimates her power or effectiveness. It could kill health reform, as the health plans did during the Bill Clinton administration. And she became emblematic of the compromises and controversies that still define the Affordable Care Act today. Instead, the nation’s top health insurance lobbyist helped President Barack Obama to pass his sweeping health reform. Karen Ignagni is the CEO of American Health Insurance Plans. — Karen Ignagni, CEO, America’s Health Insurance Plans Obamacare’s online small business exchange is delayed another year. Ignagni also says that FFS program… “She was able to envision, even with the new consumer protections, that the industry would get many billions of dollars in new revenue that can be converted into profits, and that’s exactly what’s happened.”. EmblemHealth has protected access to quality care for essential workers, small and large businesses, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries through its health plans, EmblemHealth and … Karen Ignagni is a survivor. “She knew that the industry would do better under the law,” said Wendell Potter, a former insurance official turned consumer watchdog with the Center for Public Integrity. She is often mentioned as one of the most effective lobbyists and the most powerful people in healthcare. HealthCare.gov is re-launched and “ fixed .” The CEO Karen Ignagni has a real vision for healthcare which is shared in this article. Karen Ignagni was the most influential lobbyist representing the health insurance industry when Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, was passed in 2010. EmblemHealth is a $10 billion company with 3 million members as a leader in health care in New York City. Or it could embrace it — and try to shape it. “After advocating for something like this, it’s fun to actually do it,” Gellert said. Karen Ignagni, President and Chief Executive Officer, AHIP, feels Medicare is right to take on the challenge of hospital readmissions. Big insurers were omnipresent during the ObamaCare negotiations. [5] George Magazine listed her among 50 Most Powerful People in Politics. Karen Ignagni was a K-Street mega-lobbyist, leading the health insurance industry through the Obamacare wars. Their most effective negotiator was Karen Ignagni, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans …