Information about the HPC's Leadership Team
Under the leadership of Executive Director David Seltz and Deputy Executive Director Coleen Elstermeyer, the staff of the HPC is divided into six departments. Each department works on focused areas as well as collaborative, cross-agency projects to ensure that the HPC’s responsibilities are achieved in a robust, transparent, and timely manner. Two executive departments have oversight and administrative duties, while four other departments focus primarily on policy, research, and program operations. Click on the departments below to learn more about their function within the agency.
Executive Director David Seltz
David Seltz is the first Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Since the HPC's establishment in 2012, health care cost growth in Massachusetts has been below U.S. averages every year, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for local businesses, families, and individuals. Additionally, the HPC has invested nearly $100 million in innovative care delivery models, aimed at addressing the medical, behavioral, and social needs of the state’s most vulnerable and complex patients.
Prior to leading the HPC, David was the Special Advisor on health care for Governor Deval Patrick (MA) and Senate President Therese Murray. Through these positions, David advised the passage of historic health care access reform legislation in 2006, a forerunner to the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Subsequently, he worked on landmark cost containment legislation in Massachusetts, which has also become a model of success for many states.
As Executive Director, David has led the HPC through its growth into a nationally-recognized leader in landmark health policy and health care reform efforts. To date, five other states have established cost benchmarking programs with monitoring agencies modeled after the HPC, and several additional states are actively considering similar measures. These states have continually looked to him for guidance in crafting these reforms.
David is a 2003 graduate of Boston College and originally from Minnesota. He was a recipient of Modern HealthCare’s 2015 Up and Comer Award, which recognizes young executives that have made significant contributions in the areas of healthcare administration, management, or policy, as well as a recipient of the Massachusetts Health Council’s 100th Anniversary Health Care Star Award (2020) in recognition of outstanding leadership toward improving and protecting health in Massachusetts. David also serves as a designated member of the Oversight Council to the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) and as a member of the Executive Committee to the National Academy of State Health Policy (NASHP).
Deputy Executive Director Coleen Elstermeyer, MPP
Coleen Elstermeyer, MPP serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Since the HPC's establishment in 2012, health care cost growth in Massachusetts has been below U.S. averages every year, resulting in billions of dollars in savings for local businesses, families, and individuals. Additionally, the HPC has invested more than $100 million in innovative care delivery models, aimed at addressing the medical, behavioral, and social needs of the state’s most vulnerable and complex patients.
In 2012, Coleen became the HPC’s first chief of staff, and in 2016 the first deputy executive director, leading the HPC through its growth into a nationally-recognized leader in landmark health policy and health care reform efforts. In this role, Coleen oversees the HPC’s management team, staff, internal operations, and external affairs, while providing experienced leadership and guidance on health policy and strategy. She directly manages across several functional areas within the agency, including media, public, legislative, intergovernmental, and stakeholder relations, and agency operations, human resources, fiscal management, special projects, and public events.
Prior to her role at the HPC, Coleen served as Chief of Staff to Majority Leader and State Representative Ronald Mariano, where she oversaw the Leader’s staff, policy and legislative agenda, and communications strategy. Through this position she was point person for the Leader on major health care reform legislation, including Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, the landmark health care cost containment law that established the HPC.
In 2016 Governor Charlie Baker awarded Coleen with the Manuel Carbello Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service “for demonstrating a commitment to performance at the highest standards.”
Coleen was born and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, and lives in Hingham with her husband, Matthew, and their children. She is a 2004 graduate of Boston College, and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from King’s College London.
Executive Departments
Office of the Chief of Staff
Hannah Kloomok
Chief of Staff
The Office of the Chief of Staff (COS) ensures that the HPC produces timely, high-quality deliverables and informs the public and stakeholders of the HPC’s mission, policies, and programs in a consistent and credible manner. This is completed through management of the HPC’s external affairs efforts, including media, public, legislative, intergovernmental, and stakeholder relations. COS also manages the day-to-day administration of the HPC, including agency operations, human resources, fiscal management, special projects, and public events. Hannah Kloomok serves as the Chief of Staff and oversees the work of this department.
About the Chief of Staff
Hannah Kloomok serves as the Chief of Staff for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Prior to her current role, Hannah was the HPC’s Deputy Chief of Staff for External Affairs, overseeing the agency’s engagement with inter-agency partners, external stakeholders, legislators, and the media, as well as the operations for HPC public meetings. She initially joined the HPC in a role focused on the design, implementation oversight, and evaluation of its investment programs, where she managed the agency’s Mother and Infant-Focused Neonatal Abstinence Program throughout its development and tenure.
Before Hannah joined the HPC, she was a Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means under Chairs Stephen M. Brewer and Karen E. Spilka, where she specialized in health care.
Hannah is a graduate of Northeastern University, and originally from California.
Office of the General Counsel
Lois H. Johnson, JD General Counsel
The Office of the General Counsel provides legal counsel and advice on a wide range of strategic, policy, and operational topics for the agency. The Legal department is responsible for supporting the HPC’s policy and legal work, including the development of regulations and support of agency compliance functions. The Office of the General Counsel is led by Lois H. Johnson.
About the General Counsel
Lois Johnson serves as the General Counsel for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Lois oversees regulatory development and supports the full range of the HPC’s policy work, including cost and market impact reviews, ACO and PCMH certification, and hospital grant programs. Previously, she served for five years in the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. As Assistant Attorney General in the Health Care Division, she worked on enforcement matters, managed the Attorney General’s community benefits program, and focused on a variety of health care policy issues including health care reform and health disparities. She as a member of the team that led the Attorney General’s seminal health care costs trends examinations and worked on a variety of health care legislation, including Chapter 288 of the Acts of 2010 and Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012. Before joining the Office of the Attorney General, Lois served as General Counsel and Senior Policy Counsel for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means. Prior to her legislative and policy work, she practiced labor and employment law at private firms in Boston, Chicago, and the District of Columbia. She is an honors graduate of Wesleyan University, received her J.D. with honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and was awarded the Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship.
Policy, Research, and Program Departments
Health Care Transformation and Innovation
Tayler Bungo, Director of Health Care Transformation and Innovation
Catherine Harris, Director of Health Care Transformation and Accountability
The Health Care Transformation and Innovation (HCTI) department is responsible for developing a coordinated strategy to advance care delivery transformation policy and programs, including developing and implementing the agency’s grantmaking strategy. HCTI has administered several grant programs designed to catalyze care delivery transformation in the Commonwealth, beginning with the Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization, and Transformation (CHART) and Health Care Innovation Investment (HCII) programs, and continuing today with the SHIFT-Care Challenge, Moving Massachusetts Upstream (MassUP), Cost-Effective, Coordinated Care for Caregivers and Substance Exposed Newborns (C4SEN), and Birth Equity and Support through the Inclusion of Doula Expertise (BESIDE) programs. These efforts collectively represent a key component of the HPC’s overall efforts to increase health care quality, equity, and access while reducing cost growth in the Commonwealth. HCTI also advances the Commonwealth’s goals of accelerating adoption of new integrated care models through state certification programs for patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs) and enhanced transparency of such efforts. The department – in collaboration with other state agencies and stakeholders – works to promote and align innovative care delivery and payment models and address upstream causes of poor health outcomes. Through these efforts, HCTI supports the HPC’s vision of a care delivery system that reduces spending and improves health for all residents by delivering coordinated, patient-centered, and efficient health care that reflects patients’ behavioral, social, and medical needs.
HCTI is co-led by Tayler Bungo, Director of Health Care Transformation and Innovation, and Catherine Harrison, Director of Health Care Transformation and Accountability.
About the Directors
![]() Tayler Bungo is the Director of Health Care Transformation and Innovation. Tayler oversees the team's investment program implementation strategy, provides oversight of the investment program portfolio, and supports the senior management of the department in designing, implementing, evaluating and disseminating findings from the agency's innovative care delivery programs. Tayler joined the HPC in 2016 as a Program Officer, and has played a role in every investment program since the HPC's inaugural CHART program . Before her roles at the HPC, Tayler worked in neuropsychological research at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation to advance the understanding and treatment of service members with traumatic brain injuries. Tayler received her Masters degree in Public Health from Washington University in St. Louis and is a graduate of Wake Forest University in North Carolina. | ![]() Catherine Harrison is the Director of Health Care Transformation and Accountability. Catherine provides strategic guidance on the design and implementation of programs to advance the HPC’s health care quality improvement, cost growth reduction, and health equity goals. Since joining the HPC in 2015, Catherine has shaped the agency’s work to develop and implement certification standards for patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, including establishing the state’s first all-payer ACO Certification program in 2017. Catherine also led Moving Massachusetts Upstream, a cross-agency collaboration to invest in the development of partnerships between health care and community organizations to address the social drivers of health. Prior to joining the HPC, Catherine worked in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services where she managed the development and implementation of MassHealth’s OneCare program, an integrated Medicare-Medicaid benefit for individuals with disabilities. She also worked as a consultant at the Washington-D.C. based firm Avalere Health, and covered the Food and Drug Administration and pharmaceutical policy as Assistant Managing Editor of “The Pink Sheet.” Catherine holds a Masters degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s School for Public and International Affairs, and is a graduate of Carleton College. |
Market Oversight and Transparency
Katherine Scarborough Mills, JD, MPH
Senior Director
The Market Oversight and Transparency (MOAT) department is responsible for advancing the HPC’s statutory charge to encourage a more value-based health care market. This includes (1) developing and implementing a first-in-the-nation Registration of Provider Organizations (RPO) program to provide transparency on the composition and function of provider organizations in the health care system, (2) tracking and evaluating the impact of significant health care provider changes on the competitive market and on the state’s ability to meet the health care cost growth benchmark through review of material change notices (MCNs) and cost and market impact reviews (CMIRs), (3) evaluating the performance of individual health care providers and payers which threaten the health care cost growth benchmark and overseeing Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) to improve the cost performance of such entities, and (4) collaborating with other HPC departments to catalyze improvements in the performance of the health care system. MOAT is led by Katherine (Kate) Scarborough Mills, Esq., MPH.
About the Director
Katherine (Kate) Scarborough Mills is the Senior Director for the Market Oversight and Transparency at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Kate leads a team of attorneys, economists and other health care policy experts and oversees the HPC’s reviews of changes to the health care market in Massachusetts (material change notices and cost and market impact reviews), compliance with and enforcement of the state’s health care cost growth benchmark through performance improvement plans, the state’s registration of provider organizations program designed to increase transparency on the structure and functioning of the health care provider market in Massachusetts, and various special projects related to health care market functioning in Massachusetts including work on variation in provider prices, out-of-network billing, and the state of community hospitals. In her previous roles as the HPC’s Project Manager and Deputy Director for Cost and Market Impact Reviews, Kate worked on designing Massachusetts’ first-in-the-nation cost and market impact review process and led the HPC’s first cost and market impact reviews, focused on the proposed expansion of the Commonwealth’s largest provider organization. Prior to joining the HPC, she was an attorney and health care policy and budget analyst with the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means where she worked closely on Chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012, the state’s landmark health care cost control legislation, as well as other health care, public health, and mental health legislation. Kate earned her A.B. from Harvard College, her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, and her M.P.H. from Tufts Medical School.
Office of Patient Protection
Nancy Ryan, JD
Director
The Office of Patient Protection (OPP) safeguards important rights of health insurance consumers. Implementing certain provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 176O, OPP regulates the internal grievance process for consumers who wish to challenge denials of coverage by health plans and regulates and administers the external review process for consumers who seek further review of adverse determinations by health plans based on medical necessity. OPP is also charged with regulating similar internal and external review processes for patients of Risk Bearing Provider Organizations and HPC-certified ACOs. OPP also administers and grants enrollment waivers to eligible individuals who seek to purchase non-group insurance when open enrollment is closed. Additionally, OPP assists consumers with general questions or concerns relating to health insurance. OPP is led by Nancy K. Ryan, Esq., MPH.
About the Director
Nancy K. Ryan is the Director of the Office of Patient Protection (OPP) at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Nancy has been on staff at the Health Policy Commission since 2015, serving the agency as Associate Counsel before becoming the Director of OPP. As Associate Counsel, she provided legal support to policy teams implementing a diverse set of initiatives, including the accountable care organization certification program and OPP’s consumer appeals and waiver programs. Prior to joining the Health Policy Commission, Nancy was a Staff Attorney at Health Law Advocates, a public interest law firm whose mission is to provide pro bono legal representation to low-income residents. There, she represented clients experiencing difficulty accessing or paying for needed medical services and advocated state policymakers on behalf of health care consumers. Nancy received her JD and MPH, as part of a dual-degree program, from Northeastern University School of Law and Tufts University School of Medicine. She is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.
Research and Cost Trends
David Auerbach, PhD
Senior Director
The Research and Cost Trends (RCT) department fulfills the HPC’s statutory charge to examine spending trends and underlying drivers and to develop evidence-based policy recommendations for strategies to increase the efficiency of the health care system. Using key data sources such as the Center for Health Information and Analysis’ All-Payer Claims Database (APCD) and cutting-edge methods, RCT draws on significant research and analytical expertise to inform action to achieve the benchmark and the goals of Chapter 224. RCT is responsible for producing the HPC’s annual Health Care Cost Trends Report and contributes subject matter expertise to the annual Health Care Cost Trends Hearing, as well as special research projects as determined by the Executive Director and the Board. RCT is led by David Auerbach, PhD.
About the Director
David Auerbach, PhD is the Senior Director for Research and Cost Trends at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC). The HPC is a first-in-the-nation independent state government agency charged with bending the health care cost curve and providing data-driven policy recommendations regarding health care delivery and payment system reform. The HPC’s goal is better health and better care – at a lower cost – for all residents across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Dr. Auerbach’s work has spanned a number of focus areas including understanding employer markets for insurance, spending trends and cost drivers, primary care and the health care workforce. He has specialized in and is a nationally-recognized expert on the workforce of registered nurses, physicians, and nurse practitioners and has authored and co-authored several dozen publications in journals including NEJM, JAMA, and Health Affairs. Prior to working at the HPC, he was a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation in Boston and prior to that, he was a principal analyst at the Congressional Budget Office in Washington DC where he co-developed the model used to analyze the Affordable Care Act. He has a Master’s degree in Technology and Policy from MIT and a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard University.