The 8th Annual
Medicare Advantage Leadership Innovations

Keslie Crichton

Chief Sales Officer

Benelynk

Keslie is the Chief Sales Officer for Benelynk. In her role, she is not only responsible for new business development but also works on innovative partnerships to improve outreach strategies and health outcomes for our client’s members. At the core of BeneLynk’s services, Keslie and her team work to identify, document and solve member’s social determinant of health (SDoH) challenges by “leading with help”. This increases BeneLynk’s engagement rates across our integrated services while also providing our clients with crucial information they need to deliver care and improve their quality metrics.
Keslie has worked in managed care for over 25 years with a focus on SDoH solutions that improve members lives but also provide a return on investment for our clients. Keslie's passion lies in working on strategies that put members at the center while ensuring we deliver accurate risk-adjusted revenue, quality performance, and member retention.
Keslie holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Regis University and worked toward her MBA and Masters in Healthcare Administration at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Lynn Deguzman

PharmD, Regional Director, Strategy & Programs, Social Health Impact Programs, Primary Care, Permanente Medicine

The Permanente Medical Group

Dr. Lynn Deguzman brings over 19 years of experience in healthcare, with a focus on strategy and leadership within the Permanente Medical Group. Currently, as the Regional Director for Strategy Programs for Social Impact in Primary Care, she leads initiatives that address social determinants of health, integrating social health into primary care to enhance equitable and holistic patient care. Her work involves creating impactful clinical programs for social health, overseeing key projects such as Family Violence and Child Abuse Screening and Prevention, and collaborating with physician and operational leaders across MediCal/Single Contract care delivery workgroups.
Previously, Dr. Deguzman held various medical group and pharmacy leadership roles, including developing national strategies to improve equity and quality in medication adherence, optimizing prescribing practices for seniors, and advancing safety and adherence in medication management to prevent overdose events. She successfully bridged national and regional pharmacy leadership, digital and informatics, and Medical Group and Program Office partners to ensure coordinated patient care.
Dr. Deguzman has served on various advisory boards and expert panels, including PQA’s Quality Metric Expert Panel and AMCP’s MTM Advisory Board. She continues her contributions as a member of AMCP’s Health Disparities Advisory Group and has served as a Technical Expert for CMS’s MTM Technical Expert Panel. Additionally, she has collaborated with the Lown Institute on polypharmacy and with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on polypharmacy and deprescribing initiatives.

Zach Dennett

VP, MM Consumer Healthcare

CVS Health

Zach Dennett, VPMM, leads the Consumer Health Care merchandising team and CVS’s Supplemental Benefits programs. Zach joined CVS in 2022.
Previously at CVS, Zach was the VP of Loyalty and Omnichannel. The team managed CVS’s famous Extracare program, the paid ExtraCare Plus program, and the front store Omnichannel business including BOPIS, Same Day delivery, and the Delivery Marketplaces.
Before CVS, Zach helped launch and run the instant delivery startup JOKR as the US co-founder. Zach’s background also includes leadership positions at Jet.com and Walmart (when Jet was acquired). He held various roles of increasing responsibility, including Pricing for E-Commerce, all food sales on Walmart.com, and Omni-merchandising for dry grocery including in store, curbside and delivery. Prior to Jet/Walmart, he worked in consulting at Oliver Wyman.
Zach earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Yale University and his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Zachary Dennett LinkedIn

Archie Dey

VP Consumer Experience and Insights

SCAN Health Plan

Archie Dey leads the Consumer Experience and Insights efforts at SCAN. He is accountable for the following
• Strategy to execution of consumer experience initiatives
• Consumer Insights with focus on qualitative and advanced analytic approaches to understand consumer needs.
• Direct to Consumer Sales strategy to execution enabled by Digital Marketing and digital assets e.g. website.
Prior to SCAN, Archie has been a management consultant specializing in Strategy and Operations in Healthcare with background in Experience Design and Analytics.

Dean Gutridge

Vice President of Growth

The Helper Bees

As Vice President of Growth at The Helper Bees, Dean Gutridge leads efforts to drive business expansion by creating innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of health plans. He brings extensive leadership and experience to his role, gained from working for more than a decade with a Fortune 5 payer. His deep understanding of healthcare ecosystems and ability to anticipate industry trends position him as a leader in building impactful, forward-thinking partnerships.

Greg Hanley, MBA, FACHE, CPHQ,

VP, HS Quality & Operations

UCare

Greg has nearly 20 years of health plan experience in quality, population health and clinical improvement. In his current role, he provides strategic direction and leadership for Quality and Population Health including Star Ratings, NCQA Accreditation, Health Equity, Utilization Management, Appeals & Grievances, Provider Credentialing, Disease Management, Clinical Informatics, and Health Services Analytics.
Prior to joining UCare, he was the Midwest Regional Director of Quality Improvement at Coventry Health Care in Kansas City, MO. As such, he oversaw Coventry’s credentialing, NCQA Accreditation, CAHPS and quality of care program, quality Committees and all quality improvement projects.
Greg retired from the Army in 2005 after a 21-year career as a Medical Service Corps Officer and in Psychological Operations.
Greg serves on the board for Minnesota Community Measurement (MNCM). Greg is board certified by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) as a Fellow (FACHE) in health care management and previously served as the President for the Minnesota Chapter of ACHE. He is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Cloud State University, and Master of Business Administration from Portland State University.

Allison Hess

Vice President Health Innovations

Geisinger

Allison Hess is the Vice President of Health Services for Geisinger. She has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and is responsible for the oversight and implementation of health services programming that includes Geisinger patients, GHP insured members and community members. She started her career in community health education serving underserved and uninsured populations while expanding her scope to include innovative employer wellness and population health initiatives driven by data analysis and clinical outcome measurements. Most recently her work has been focused on addressing disparities by focusing on social needs screenings, resources and innovative programs targeting food insecurity, transportation, health equity and quality/prevention initiatives.
Ms. Hess has earned a Bachelor of science in Health Education and her MBA from Bloomsburg University. She has been the recipient of several awards focused in various areas of health including social needs, health equity, worksite wellness and innovative supply chain. She has also been recognized nationally for her work with the Fresh Food Farmacy program.

Abby Katabaro

Managing Director Medicare Product,

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Abby Katabaro is a seasoned product leader who oversees Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement product development and management as the Managing Director of Medicare Product at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. In her role, she provides strategic direction over product portfolio planning, benefit design, communications, and filing for the health plan, as well as leading vendor engagement and management of supplemental benefits. Prior to joining BCBSM in February 2024, Abby served as the National Director of Medicare Products at Kaiser Permanente where she was accountable for the development and implementation of competitive, growth-driving ancillary and supplemental benefits as well as Medicare product strategy across the company’s market landscape. She previously led Medicare product development for Centene and served in various roles at Wellcare Health Plans, where she developed Medicare products and materials, designed plan portfolios, and filed CMS bids.
Abby previously held legal and corporate communications roles in the professional sports, education, and legal industries, of which she holds degrees in. Based out of Alpharetta, Georgia, you can find her volunteering for service dog and rescue organizations, playing tennis, traveling abroad, and going on local foodie adventures around Atlanta with her husband, two daughters and two retrievers.

Kim Leible

Associate Vice President, Marketing, Regulatory and Operational Communications

Humana

Nearly 25 years of transformative industry experience in marketing, financial services, healthcare and technology solutions. Experienced leader in strategy development and operational execution with business agility for Fortune 100 companies. Leads team responsible for all direct communications across Marketing, Regulatory, and Operational Communications to include Concierge Service for Accessibility (ADA Alternate Format materials). Recent accomplishments include: consolidation of more than a dozen vendors to BPO (business process outsourcing) relationship; Platform migrations including Unica to Adobe and Acoustic to Salesforce; launching journey orchestration and ensuring all employees are skilled and certified; consolidation of two distinct organizations into one operating model. Strong core values coupled with a passion for advancing women in the workplace and improving gender and racial equity within and outside the corporate world.

Christine Leo

Vice President, Medicare Advantage Products

Cigna

Christine joined Cigna Medicare in 2015 and is responsible for the oversight of Cigna's Medicare Advantage group and individual products. She is responsible for innovation, new product development, and the implementation and performance of Cigna's Medicare Advantage plans.
Christine has been integral in advancing innovation within the Medicare line of business throughout her career and is an expert within the industry. Her experiences both as caregiver, as well as dealing with her own health issues, serve to drive her passion to improve healthcare.
She has more than 25 years of Medicare and Medicaid experience. Christine previously worked at Aetna where she was National Head of Product Strategy for Medicare Advantage at Aetna. She also held leadership roles in national contracting, network contracting, operations and dental.
Christine began her managed care career with HealthPASS, one of the first managed Medicaid programs in Pennsylvania.
A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in Dental Hygiene, Christine also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Christine lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.

EJay Lockwood

Senior Vice President

Prospect Medical Holdings

CEO

Prospect IPAs in CT and PA

Ejay Lockwood is Senior Vice President, Prospect Medical Holdings, and CEO of Prospect IPAs in CT and PA. His responsibilities include Payer Contracting (FFS and Value Based), Population Management and Care Management initiatives. Ejay has a history of working within Payer, Provider, and IT/Data Analytics in leading efforts to increase the efficiency and impact of Value Based programs as they continue to integrate with the resources available within Providers, Payers and the broader support and care community.

Henry Mahncke

CEO

Posit Science

Eddie Maria

Head of Sales

Birdsong Hearing Benefits

Eddie Maria is the Head of Sales for Birdsong Hearing. In his role, Eddie provides leadership of Birdsong Hearing Benefits, LLC Sales while partnering with clients to make their plans more impactful, personal, and meaningful for members. He is passionate about improving peoples’ lives by bringing a whole health focus to hearing benefits that also helps health plans bring additional value to their members.
Eddie is a client-focused leader with extensive experience bringing solutions to Commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Managed Medicaid plans. He is passionate about the customer experience, focuses on nurturing relationships, and appreciates the importance of understanding the customer’s needs.
Eddie has 27 years of experience building client partnerships and leading sales teams in the healthcare industry, including the pharmaceutical, women’s healthcare, and hearing benefits sectors. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies from California State University – Sacramento. Outside of work, Eddie volunteers with Blessings in a Backpack – an organization that provides children on a free- lunch program with food every Friday during the school year so that they have food for the weekend.

Messina Martinez, MSW

Director of Strategy & Operations

Wellcare - Centene Corporation

Messina Martinez holds a Masters of Social Work and has overseen Medicare strategy and operations for Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico health plans. In her current role, she works product bid development, growth strategy, state regulatory operations, and duals integration. She supports corporate shared service models and oversees the local health plan operational functions in the Medicare line of business.
In the beginning of her career as a Social Worker, she worked in child and adult protective service roles for the State of New Mexico, advocating and serving individuals from birth to grave. She began her career in Managed Care in 2012 and has worked with the aged and disabled populations for over a decade in population health, care management, quality, and compliance roles. She was the director of Long Term Services & Supports (LTSS) for Molina Healthcare and Western Sky Community Care (Centene Corporation) in New Mexico where she oversaw the Care Coordination and Utilization Management teams. Messina has since worked extensively on new business implementation and operations, standing up the Medicare and Marketplace lines of business in the health plan. She has held leadership roles in various departments including enrollment, IT, provider data management, and grievances & appeals.
Messina has a passion for the aged and disabled populations and strives to provide the highest quality of care, access, and member experience for the underserved.

Justin Murakami, JD, CHC,

Senior Consultant

ATTAC Consulting Group

Justin Murakami is a Senior Consultant at ATTAC Consulting Group (ACG) with over 15 years of experience spanning Medicare, Medicaid, commercial health plans, and provider organizations. In his role at ACG, Justin applies his expertise and depth of knowledge in health plan compliance and regulatory oversight to deliver tailored solutions for clients navigating the complex Medicare Advantage and Part D landscape. Previously, Justin served as Manager of Regulatory Audits and Monitoring at L.A. Care, California’s largest publicly operated health plan, where he led a team responsible for managing compliance initiatives across commercial and government-sponsored programs. His work included implementing comprehensive programs and impactful process improvements that strengthened organizational alignment and compliance. Earlier in his career, Justin investigated fraud and abuse as Senior SIU Investigator at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii and headed statewide initiatives including education programs and public policy advocacy at Hawaii Pacific Health, a network of hospitals and clinics. He earned his JD from Temple University and BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Brigitte Nettesheim,

Chief Growth Officer,

Convey

A transformative healthcare leader, Brigitte has an extensive track record spanning payer, provider, and technology solutions in government and commercial programs. Brigitte focuses her work on continually improving both access to and the affordability of quality healthcare. With her unique blend of leadership and proven growth experience, Brigitte has made significant contributions to private and public sector organizations, including CVS/Aetna, The Chartis Group, and Tiber Group (now Guidehouse).
More recently, Brigitte completed advisory work with a vast selection of healthcare companies, identifying new channels for growth and developing corresponding organizational design and go-to-market strategies. Ms. Nettesheim holds a master's degree in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor of science in economics with a minor in systems engineering from the United States Military Academy and served in the United States Army, departing with the rank of Captain.

Henry W. Osowski

Managing Partner

Strategic Health Group

Hank Osowski, a Founding Member of Strategic Health Group, is an experienced health care executive and strategist who has provided leadership to commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans for more than 30 years. He currently is the Managing Director of Strategic Health Group, a new boutique strategic and financial advisory firm dedicated to bringing seasoned leadership to enable health care organizations to succeed in a challenging and changing environment. He is an expert in Medicare Advantage and Medicaid long-term care strategies.

Formerly, as Senior Vice President Corporate Development, he was a key member of the senior leadership team that the company from a near death experience to an exceptionally strong financial position. He led SCAN Group's efforts to expand into seven additional California counties. Hank also led SCAN's entry into Arizona and served as the initial President of SCAN Health Plan Arizona and SCAN Long Term Care. The service area expansions represent approximately a quarter of SCAN's membership and added nearly $450 million to SCAN's revenue. He also led the organization's strategic planning efforts and initiated an innovation development regimen to seek improvements in care coordination practices and future care outcome protocols.

Prior to SCAN, Hank served as a Principal in a national health care consulting organization providing a range of strategic, financial and development services for health plans , physician groups and hospitals. He began his California career as a member of the senior management team responsible for the turnaround and financial survival of Blue Cross of California. In this capacity, Hank led the financial turnaround of the Individual and Small Group Division and provided leadership to the organization's strategic planning efforts.

Earlier he served as Vice President International Operations for American Family Life Assurance Corporation where he directed the activities of the company's Canadian and European operations. In this role he directed the development of start-up operations in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, as well as the financial turnaround of the company's Canadian operations. Earlier, Hank also served as Director of Insurance Consulting Services for Coopers and Lybrand, a predecessor to PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

Throughout his career, he has been a frequent speaker on critical issues and challenges facing the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In 2011, Hank spoke to the Managed Medicaid Congress about principles for structuring effective long term care programs, to the Medicare Market Innovations conference about opportunities for strengthening a plan's five star quality rating and offered his strategic projections for the future of Medicare. He also spoke to a diverse health care and technology audience at the Healthcare Unbound conference about leveraging the power of technology to improve the quality of health outcomes and care interventions.

Andrew Parker

Founder & CEO

Papa

Throughout his career, Andrew Parker has focused on health care innovation that brings care to the consumer. In late 2017, Andrew founded Papa, a curated platform of companionship and support for older adults and families. He started the company to support his own grandfather, his “papa,” and the company has since scaled to provide social support nationally through Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid, Special Needs Plans, and employer benefits. Prior to Papa, Andrew was part of the founding team of MDLIVE. Andrew resides in Miami, Florida with his wife, Romi, and dog, Chewie.

Kerri Peterson

Director of Sales, California-Medicare

Anthem Blue Cross

Mike Reha

Vice President of Strategic Partnership and Growth,

Eargo

Mike Reha is Vice President of Strategic Partnership and Growth for Eargo the leader for OTC Hearing Care. Prior to joining Eargo, he spent over 25 years in the Hearing and Group Medicare industry and has presented to both national and local conferences. He has been involved in all stages of the hearing lifecycle from manufacturing to wholesale to managed care, and he has also worked for a prominent managed care plan specializing in Medicare Advantage plan administration.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He also holds CEBS designation and is an active member of both the IFEBP and ISCEBS organizations.

Vanessa Robson

Account Executive, Healthcare Practice at Relay Network

Relay Network

Vanessa is an Account Executive in the Healthcare Practice at Relay Network. She is an accomplished professional with unique experience designing and executing impactful member engagement programs for national health plans. She brings a wealth of experience in customer service and strategic planning, with a focus on solutions that improve member experiences, satisfaction, and outcomes.

Andrew Schwab

Founder

Platform Government Strategies

Andrew Schwab is the Founder & CEO of Platform Government Strategies, a strategic government health policy, advocacy and messaging firm built to “platform” healthcare organizations inside our national health policy debate. His deep experience includes having spent the past two decades in and around national health policy and politics, first as a staffer in the United States Senate and New Jersey Legislature, and then as a Washington, DC government affairs leader at trade and member associations, nonprofits and public companies.
Andrew began his career as Deputy Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) where he worked on public affairs implementation of the Medicare Part D drug benefit. As he continued his public service, for seven years, Andrew was Chief of Staff to the New Jersey Legislature’s Chairman of the Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee, passing 23 laws and guiding efforts during the 2008 financial crisis, state implementation of the Affordable Care Act and what became first-in-the-nation leadership on surprise billing legislation. In 2013, Andrew was recruited to lead federal advocacy at AARP in the areas of Medicare Advantage, Medigap, employer insurance and the ACA. He then moved on to heading federal government affairs at the Alliance of Community Health Plans where he served during 2017’s ACA repeal and replace debate. During COVID-19, Andrew was Director of Policy, Federal Affairs & Partnerships at United States of Care, a nonprofit established by former Obama and Biden Administration official Andy Slavitt. Immediately prior to establishing his own firm, Andrew built the first government affairs function at Oak Street Health where he led efforts to preserve the ACO REACH program from termination, establish the Health Equity Index Reward Factor in Medicare Advantage, and led the department’s transition after the $10.6 billion acquisition by CVS Health.
Andrew holds dual undergraduate degrees in Policy Studies and History from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a Masters of Public Administration from Rutgers University.

Melissa Smith

Founder & Senior Advisor

Newton Smith Group

For more than a decade, Melissa Smith has been at the forefront of leading Medicare Advantage and Star Ratings teams. As the founder of Newton Smith Group and a Senior Advisor to Oliver Wyman, Melissa is a widely recognized thought leader and healthcare strategist. Her proven track record of success lies in developing comprehensive enterprise-wide solutions that enhance Star Ratings, quality performance, health outcomes, and the overall member experience.
Melissa excels in crafting strategic and tactical solutions to meet client needs, forging productive partnerships across internal teams and external vendors, and improving performance on various quality measures. Her unique background in business, finance, regulatory compliance, and healthcare quality provides clients unparalleled access to healthcare strategy, quality performance, and revenue optimization.
As the former Chief Consulting Officer at Healthmine and Senior Vice President at Gorman Health Group, Melissa's leadership spans across prestigious organizations like Cigna-HealthSpring and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Graduating from Purdue University, Melissa began her career at KPMG, LLP and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Michael Spicer

Vice President Product

Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan

Mike leads the Product Innovation team of portfolio managers, researchers, and analysts at CDPHP in Albany, NY. Mike’s team is always seeking out new trends and disruptions in healthcare to enhance CDPHP’s product portfolio, ranging the gamut from digital health technologies to high deductible plans paired with HSAs. Mike is most interested in studying and utilizing consumer behavior trends in healthcare, including the choices people make, why they make those choices, and the influences required to help them make choices that are more appropriate.
Originally from Syracuse, New York, Mike relocated for his post-secondary education, including a B.S from Union College (NY) focused in Neuroscience and Quantitative Economics, as well as a Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) focused in Healthcare Management from Clarkson University. Mike now resides with his family and dachshunds in Latham while continuing to work on his golf game.

Naama Stauber Breckler

CEO

Better Health

Naama Stauber Breckler is the CEO and Co-founder of Better Health , a medical supply & support platform for chronic conditions built on peer-to-peer connection. Better Health bundles peer coaching, education, and home delivery of medical supplies to help people manage their chronic conditions at home. The company partners with over 200 payers and health systems to improve member and patient health outcomes, reduce costs, improve quality measures, and reduce administrative burden, and is backed by General Catalyst, Mosaic, CAffeinated Capital, and CareFirst’s venture arm, Healthworx.

Prior to founding Better Health, Naama founded and held C-level positions in several successful healthcare companies, including CompactCath, a medical device manufacturer of novel catheters for people with chronic retention, and Avails Medical, a diagnostics company for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing that spun out of Stanford University.

Naama started her career as a software engineer in the Israeli military, building defense systems as an officer in the IDF, and security systems at ForeScout Technologies. Naama holds an MBA from Stanford GSB and a B.Sc in Computer Science from MTA, Israel.

Max Sungurov, MD, MBA

Chief Medical Officer, Medicare Advantage Plans,

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Board Certified Internal Medicine, MD with years of experience of work in outpatient private practice and inpatient settings in both large academic institutions and community medical centers in multiple states. Board certified in Healthcare Quality Management, Physician Advisor, with years of experience and thousands of case reviews for multiple healthcare delivery institutions. Seasoned healthcare executive with years of work for Medicaid, Commercial and Medicare MCOs.

Benjamin Vicidomina

VP, Analytics & Quality Improvement

Louisiana Blue

With 15 years of experience in healthcare informatics, Benjamin Vicidomina leads healthcare analytics at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. He has helped build the organization as a leader among health insurers in predictive analytics and outcomes research that drive greater affordability, better health outcomes, improved access to behavioral health services and improved member experience. And he has been instrumental in driving Blue Cross to a 4.5 Medicare Advantage Star rating. He also has nearly 10 years’ experience leading risk adjustment solutions at Blue Cross.
Among the examples of Vicidomina’s commitment to helping improve the health and lives of Louisianans are when he and his team shared their technological capabilities and expertise beginning in March 2020 to inform the state’s COVID-19 response. He led the Blue Cross partnership with the Louisiana Department of Health. According to the department’s secretary, these efforts have made Blue Cross invaluable and “informed many of the difficult decisions that state leaders have made.” The governor numerous times spoke of the “truly unique” public- private collaboration with Blue Cross.
Vicidomina’s work and collaborations have been shown in over 20 publications on subjects such as improving health outcomes, reducing healthcare costs and improving patient experience in the healthcare ecosystem. He has an extensive background in software design, consulting, computer systems auditing, and decision support systems. Vicidomina earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans and later taught middle school mathematics in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at a disaster-affected school.

Mike Zehrer

Managing Director of Marketing and Growth Strategy -- Individual Medicare

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

Mike Zehrer is the Managing Director of Marketing and Growth Strategy for Individual Medicare at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. With over 20 years of experience in direct patient care and health insurance, he combines clinical expertise with strategic leadership. Mike has spearheaded transformative initiatives to drive growth, enhance member engagement, and optimize health plan performance. His deep understanding of member needs and industry dynamics enables him to deliver meaningful solutions that improve outcomes and experiences.