XBluesky

Joan Alker

is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and a Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy.

Email Joan

Joan Alker is the Executive Director and a Co-Founder of the Center for Children and Families (CCF), and a Research Professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. Her work focuses on health coverage for low-income children and families, with an emphasis on Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). She is the lead author of a widely cited annual report on the status of children’s coverage. Alker has authored numerous studies and blogs on a range of issues including children’s health, Medicaid waivers, premium assistance, and published in journals such as Health Affairs, NEJM, BJM, and JAMA.

A frequent speaker and commentator, Alker is routinely quoted in major media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, Wall St Journal, KFF Health News, and Politico.. She holds a Master of Philosophy in politics from St. Antony’s College, Oxford University and a Bachelor of Arts with honors in political science from Bryn Mawr College.

Please contact Cathy Hope (catherine.hope@georgetown.edu) with media queries or to set up an interview with Joan.

Latest

  • The Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizenship Decision Could Dramatically Impact Newborns’ Access to Health Care

    The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in the case of Trump v. Barbara, offering the first insight into how the Court will decide the legality of President Trump’s executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and immigrants who are in the country legally but temporarily (such as,…

  • Which Parents Will be Impacted by Medicaid Work Reporting Mandate?

    A new work reporting requirement for adults in Medicaid is one of the most widely publicized provisions in the Trump budget reconciliation bill (H.R. 1) passed last year and accounts for a great deal of the projected coverage loss and cuts to Medicaid. In fact, a new study from the Urban Institute estimates that between…

  • CCF Welcomes Adriana Kohler to Our Team

    Earlier this week, CCF welcomed Adriana Kohler to our team. Many of us know Adriana from her years as one of our state Finish Line partners in Texas where she served as the Policy Director of Texans Care for Children for many years. We are thrilled that Adriana is joining us to work on a…

  • New State-by-State Medicaid and CHIP Tracker Shows Declining Enrollment as H.R. 1 Cuts Loom

    Georgetown CCF has been closely tracking Medicaid and CHIP enrollment periodically over the past decade, – most recently as states began “unwinding” continuous coverage protections put in place during the pandemic. Now, as states prepare to implement H.R.1, including mandatory work reporting requirements and more frequent renewals for people covered through Medicaid expansion, while mixed-status…

  • Florida Bill Would Waste Money on a Lose-Lose Plan to Punish Very Low-Income Parents

    As readers of the SayAhhh! Health Policy blog know, states that have taken up the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion are now mandated to impose a punitive work reporting requirement as of January 1, 2027. Florida has not taken up the expansion and covers very few adults, but Florida legislators are considering a bill…