Joan Alker

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Bio

Joan Alker

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). Two of her most recent reports examine the role of Medicaid in rural areas and the nation's progress on covering children. She has authored numerous reports and studies on a range of issues including Medicaid waivers, premium assistance, and was the principal investigator of a multi-year study on Florida's Medicaid program.

A frequent speaker and commentator, Alker has twenty-five years of experience working on issues affecting low-income families. 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 From Joan

Renewing Bipartisan Commitment to Help Uninsured Children Should be Top Priority

Today we released our ninth annual report that tracks children’s health insurance coverage at the state and national level. This report looks at two-year trends from 2016 to 2018 analyzing American Community Survey data from the Census Bureau. We believe this is the first national report to look at this two-year time period, a time […]

The Number of Uninsured Children is on the Rise

Introduction For many years, the nation has been on a positive trajectory reducing the number and rate of uninsured children. Having health insurance is important for children as they are more likely to receive needed services, have better educational outcomes, and their family is protected from the financial risks associated with being uninsured—even for a […]

Why are There More Uninsured Kids and What Can We Do About It?

Yesterday the Census Bureau released one of its annual surveys (the Current Population Survey or CPS), which looks at health insurance status. This year, in an unusual move, the Bureau actually released a mini special report focusing on children. While we await more data at the end of the month from the American Community Survey […]

State Flexibility Has Its Limits — Even for the Trump Administration

Like many others, I was out of Washington for the second half of August. That tends to be the period of time when Administrations publicly announce decisions they want buried. And when it comes to Medicaid waivers, the timing may not have been intentional, but what happened in August is worth unearthing to examine more […]