The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has appointed Ellen Badley as Chief of the Office of Health Plan Administration.
Badley’s management background in health care policy and health information technology (IT) includes a focus on managed care. She is currently the Assistant Deputy Director for Health Technology at the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC). She will assume her new CalPERS post in September.
As Chief of the Office of Health Plan Administration, Badley will oversee the research and development of new products and alternative approaches to health care, and facilitate the negotiation of annual premiums. She will also direct contracting efforts with the System’s two Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans (Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California), three self-funded Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans – PERS Select, PERS Choice and PERSCare, and three affiliated Association plans for California public safety officers. In addition, she will oversee the CalPERS Long-Term Care Program.
“Ellen is an innovative administrator with a wide-ranging knowledge of health care policy,” said Assistant Executive Officer Franklin. “We look forward to her joining the team.”
Before her current appointment at DMHC, Badley served for nearly 10 years as Executive Director of the San Joaquin County Medical Society, a non-profit association representing physicians, where she provided overall strategic management of the association and two subsidiary corporations.
In 2007, Badley served on the Health Care Working Group of the Broadband Taskforce established by the Governor’s Executive Order. She developed recommendations to establish a statewide e-Health network. In 2006, she was the project manager for the State’s Health IT Study, serving as DMHC’s primary policy lead for that study.
She holds a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fresno.
CalPERS is the nation’s third largest purchaser of health benefits after the federal government and General Motors, providing health benefits to nearly 1.3 million State and public agency employees, retirees, and their dependents. For more information, please visit www.calpers.ca.gov.
