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 and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). 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

Appeals Court Strikes Decisively at the Heart of Administrator Verma’s Medicaid Agenda

In a decision which warmed my heart on a cold Valentine’s Day here in Washington, the federal Court of Appeals issued an unanimous opinion striking down the Arkansas work requirements waiver.  In doing so, it upheld district court Judge Boasberg’s decision vacating the Arkansas’ Section 1115 waiver (including most famously Medicaid work requirements) because it […]

Covering All Kids: A Vision for the Future

Once a source of national pride and a testament to the power of bipartisan cooperation, our children’s health coverage has now eroded – the number of uninsured children is going up after years of decline. It is time for policymakers at the state and federal level of both parties to rededicate themselves to covering all […]

Covering All Kids

Ninth in a series of papers from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families on the future of children’s health coverage. Introduction The nation made remarkable progress in reducing the rate of uninsured children, following decades of coverage expansions and policy changes that made it easier for children and their families to get and […]

The New Year Brings Good News to Uninsured Idahoans; Providers are Ready to Go

With all of the challenges facing the health care world these days, I decided to write my first blog of 2020 about some good news happening in Idaho. As of January 1st, over 50,000 Idahoans were enrolled in Medicaid expansion coverage finally bringing to fruition the ballot initiative passed handily by voters in November 2018. […]