Faculty

Bea Rector, M.P.A., Assistant Secretary, Aging and Long Term Support Administration, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services

Bea Rector is the Assistant Secretary for the Department of Social and Health Services’ Aging and Long-Term Support Administration (ALTSA) in Washington State. Bea is responsible for guiding policy, strategy and innovations in what experts consistently rank as one of the nation’s best performing long-term services and supports systems. ALTSA administers long-term services and supports to adults with disabilities, older adults, and their caregivers as well as services and communication access to individuals who are hard of hearing, deaf or deaf blind. ALTSA also investigates and administers services to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation; and regulates and does complaint investigation of the state’s licensed and certified residential and community provider network. Bea has worked in the long-term care field for more than 30 years, including more than two decades with the state. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two adult daughters. She also rejuvenates herself by traveling and spending time in nature.

Leah Hole-Marshall, J.D., General Counsel and Chief Strategist, Washington Health Benefit Exchange

Leah Hole-Marshall is the general counsel and chief strategist for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. In this role, she coordinates compliance, security, and privacy offices, provides advice to the leadership team and board, and leads strategic planning efforts. Previously, Leah served in health policy leadership roles at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) and Health Care Authority. At L&I, she oversaw the office responsible for creating, implementing, disseminating, and enforcing medical policy to ensure high-quality health care for injured workers in Washington State. At HCA, she was the founding director of Washington’s Health Technology Assessment program, a nationally recognized effort to purchase high-quality health care that is proven safe, effective, and cost-effective. She has also provided regulatory consulting and project management to state Medicaid agencies and the federal Department of Health and Human Services, with a focus on HIPAA and information technology projects, as a consultant with Fox Systems, Inc. Leah served as a founding Board of Governor (2010–2018) for Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a national, nonprofit research entity created by the Affordable Care Act. She is passionate about improving quality, safety, and access to health care for Washington residents. She received her Juris Doctorate, Magna Cum Laude, at Seattle University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Evergreen State College.

Jason McGill, J.D., Assistant Director, Washington State Health Care Authority, Director, Medicaid Programs Division

Jason serves the state through public leadership for our Medicaid program, including joint stewardship, management, and strategic efforts of the program key elements such as managed care. He previously served two Governors for Washington state as senior health policy advisor. He led the Governor’s health and related strategic vision, goals and policy initiatives. He previously worked as a state agency Medical Administrator and as a state Assistant Attorney General. His service has spanned critical times during the deep recession to implementing the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion and now through the Covid 19 pandemic.

Emily Brice, J.D., Deputy Director, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Emily Brice is a seasoned health policy and legal strategist, with nearly two decades of experience working to advance consumer health justice. Emily has served in government in two states, first as the Senior Health Policy Advisor to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Kreidler and later as the Deputy Chief of Policy & Strategy for the Massachusetts Health Connector, a state-based Marketplace agency. Earlier in her career, Emily developed and managed clinic-based social services program as the Chicago Site Director for Health Leads and served as a Staff Attorney for NoHLA. She is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and University of Chicago. She's also the proud mom of a preschooler.

Leo S. Morales, M.D., Ph. D., M.P.H., Co-Director, Latino Center for Health and Assistant Dean, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Dr. Leo Sergio Morales is a professor and assistant dean for healthcare equity and quality in the UW School of Medicine and founding co-director of the Latino Center for Health at the University of Washington. He received his M.D. and MPH degrees from the University of Washington and his Ph.D. from the RAND Graduate School in Policy Analysis. After completing a residency in primary care internal medicine at the UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital, he was recruited to the UCLA School of Medicine where he held faculty positions as assistant and associate professor, and co-directed the UCLA Resource Center for Minority Aging Research.

He is a past recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Minority Foundation Medical Faculty Development Award and a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Investigator Award. His research focuses on racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health and the measurement of patient resorted outcomes in diverse population settings. In recognition of his research contributions, he was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2007.

Janet Varon, J.D., Executive Director, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Janet Varon is the founder and Executive Director of Northwest Health Law Advocates, a public interest legal non-profit organization whose mission is to achieve a health care system in which all Washington residents receive quality, affordable health care. Janet is a member of the Medical-Legal Partnership advisory board and serves on the steering committee of Health Care Is a Human Right -Washington. She previously chaired the state's Medical Assistance Advisory Committee and has served on the National Health Law Program board and statewide advisory groups. Before starting NoHLA, Janet worked for 13 years as a staff attorney at Evergreen Legal Services. Janet is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Honors include Agent of Change from the Washington Jewish Historical Society and the 2018 Marcia Howery Award from the Washington Healthcare Access Alliance.

Elizabeth Edwards, J.D., Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program

Elizabeth Edwards is a Senior Attorney in the National Health Law Program’s North Carolina offices. In addition to working with the National Health Law Program’s litigation team to advance the health rights of low income and underserved individuals, Elizabeth’s work includes policy advocacy and legal education.

Elizabeth joined the National Health Law Program after five years with Disability Rights North Carolina, where she used the Medicaid Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and public policy to ensure equal access and community integration for individuals and groups, along with other ADA issues such as voting rights and accessibility..

A graduate of the law school at UNC-Chapel Hill, Elizabeth obtained her bachelor’s in environmental science and policy from Duke University. Despite the law degree, she remains an ardent Duke fan. Elizabeth is from rural North Carolina and often returns to play in the country, or at least get out to the area greenways and parks.

David Machledt, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst, National Health Law Program

David Machledt is a Senior Policy Analyst in the National Health Law Program’s Washington, D.C. office. His work at the National Health Law Program centers on coverage and care for older adults and people with disabilities, including home and community-based services. He co-chairs the health task force of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD), a large coalition of national organizations that work together to advocate for federal public policy that ensures the self-determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of children and adults with disabilities. David also writes, researches, and advocates on managed care quality and accountability, Medicaid demonstrations and waivers, and health care affordability.

David has a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a focus on immigration and public health policy. David’s dissertation work, an ethnography of cross-border tuberculosis control programs, investigated the design of a bi-national public health policy and access to care issues for low-income migrant populations at the U.S./Mexico border.

Sheldon Toubman, J.D., Litigation Attorney, Disability Rights Connecticut

Sheldon Toubman has 35 years of experience working for legal services programs and a disability rights program in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Throughout his career in legal services, Sheldon developed expertise in representing individuals seeking eligibility or specific services under the Medicaid program (called “HUSKY” in Connecticut). He also was lead or co-lead counsel in several federal court class actions against the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) under the Medicaid program, resulting in statewide court judgements or settlements benefiting tens of thousands of low-income individuals, including many people with severe disabilities. He is experienced in using multi-forum strategies to advance clients’ access to health care, including litigation, state and federal lobbying, coalition building and the development of consumer voices to support advocacy efforts, and electronic and print media coverage. He currently is the Litigation Attorney for Disability Rights CT, the designated non-profit protection and advocacy system for the state of Connecticut.

Dan Young, M.P.H., Policy Analyst, National Health Law Program

Daniel Young is a Policy Analyst in the National Health Law Program’s North Carolina offices, where he works on research, writing, and policy analysis on Medicaid, managed care quality, maternal and child health, and health equity.

Prior to joining the National Health Law Program, Dan worked for Community Bridges Consulting Group as an analyst assisting with research and social media messaging. Before relocating to North Carolina, Dan was a project manager for the Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., working on studies pertaining to diabetes, cardiovascular health, and clinical practice improvement.

Dan is also interested in improving access to needed care and necessary services for people with disabilities. During his graduate program, Dan interned at the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living, was a peer mentor with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and served on the University of Michigan Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Advisory Council.

Dan received a Master of Public Health in Health Management and Policy and Bachelor of Education, both from the University of Michigan.

A transplant to North Carolina, Dan enjoys going to concerts, sporting events, trivia nights, and getting out on the area’s accessible trails and greenways.

Leslie Bennett, J.D., Policy and Communications Specialist, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Leslie Bennett has more than twenty years of experience in health care policy, advocacy, and communications on both the east and west coasts. Before coming to NoHLA, she was Senior Communications Manager at the Washington Health Alliance, a nonprofit collaborative of purchasers, providers, insurers, and consumers. Previously, she was the Director of the Commercial Insurance Appeals Project at Health Law Advocates in Boston, Assistant General Counsel at the Massachusetts Health Connector, Assistant Attorney General in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and Staff Attorney with the Community Health Assets Project, where she represented community interests in nonprofit hospital conversions at Consumers Union in San Francisco, the advocacy effort of the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

Jane Beyer, J.D., Senior Health Policy Advisor, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Jane Beyer has served as Senior Health Policy Advisor to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler since January 2017. She was legal counsel to the Washington State House of Representatives for twenty years, working on a broad range of health and human services issues. Jane served as Washington State's Medicaid director from 1995 through 1998, and Washington State's Behavioral Health Commissioner from 2012-2015. She began her career as a legal services attorney in Tacoma Washington,graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law and is admitted to the Washington State and District of Columbia bar.

Emily Brice, J.D., Deputy Director, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Joanna Donbeck, J.D., Compliance Officer, Washington Health Benefit Exchange

Joanna Donbeck is the compliance officer for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. In this role, she oversees organizational compliance and the privacy program, and provides leadership, direction, and integration of privacy and compliance activities in support of the Exchange's vision, mission and values. Previously, Joanna served as the Exchange's Deputy Director of Operations. Prior to the Exchange, Joanna co-founded the Health Care Rights Initiative, a non-profit organization in New York that provided patient advocacy and education services. She is passionate about navigating the complex intersections of law, policy, and operations to ensure policy goals are achieved on the ground, where people accessing services are at. She received her Juris Doctorate from the City University of New York School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis.

Leah Rutman, J.D., Health Care & Liberty Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union of Washington

Leah Rutman is the Health Care and Liberty Counsel at the ACLU of Washington. Her work at the ACLU focuses on reproductive health care, gender affirming care and health equity. She has successfully drafted and advocated for numerous pieces of legislation in Washington state that protect and expand access to reproductive health care. Prior to joining the ACLU, Leah was an associate at a law firm working on commercial litigation. She has also worked and volunteered at various human rights organizations. Leah received her BA from McGill University and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Lee Che Leong, Senior Policy Advocate, Northwest Health Law Advocates

Lee Che Leong is NoHLA’s Senior Policy Advocate, bringing extensive experience in public health, higher education, international human rights, youth engagement, and reproductive justice in New York City and Washington state. Lee Che has worked for non-profits at the local, state and national levels including directing the NYCLU’s Teen Health Initiative and collaborating in the launch of two of Washington’s Accountable Communities of Health.

Faculty

Northwest Health Law Advocates presents

Session 1: Perspectives from State Health Leaders

Session 2: Providers and Advocates Partnering to Address Inequities in Health Care

Session 3: Addressing Challenges in Accessing Medicaid Managed Care

Session 4: New Regulatory Approaches to Health Care Affordability

Session 5: Protecting Privacy Rights