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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.

Joan Alker is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Children and Families (CCF), and a Research Professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. She is a nationally recognized expert on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and is the lead author of CCF’s annual report on children’s health care coverage trends. Alker has published in journals such as JAMA and Health Affairs and has written numerous reports, blogs, and other commentary on a wide range of issues including Medicaid Section 1115 waivers, child and family health, the role of Medicaid in rural areas, and numerous reports on premium assistance for the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Alker has testified before Congress, served on expert advisory panels to the federal government, and is a frequent speaker and commentator; she is routinely quoted in major national and state media outlets such as the New York Times, NPR, Politico, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Kaiser Health News. Joan Alker 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. Follow Joan on Twitter @JoanAlker1

Latest From Joan

Join Us in Welcoming Hannah and Tanesha to CCF Team

Georgetown University Center for Children and Families is happy to welcome two new members to our team: Hannah Green and Tanesha Mondestin. Hannah Green joins us as the new communications manager. In this role, she will work with CCF Communications Director Cathy Hope to share CCF’s research and analysis with you and others through our […]

Celebrating Health Care Gains Ushered in by Affordable Care Act

It’s been 13 years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. At the time my daughter was in elementary school and I didn’t much think about what would happen to her health insurance – but now as she seems very grown up and is about to graduate from college and search for […]

CCF, Pediatricians Urge State Leaders to Shield Children from Losing Medicaid Coverage

State-by-State Report Shows Medicaid Now Covers More Than Half of U.S. Children This week we teamed up with our colleagues at the American Academy of Pediatrics to release a report and discuss the high stakes for children when the Medicaid continuous coverage protection expires. Medicaid and CHIP now cover 54% of children in the United […]

Child Uninsured Rate Could Rise Sharply if States Don’t Proceed with Caution

Policy Landscape Medicaid is the backbone of the nation’s health care system providing coverage to those for whom private insurance is not available or affordable and is now the primary coverage source (along with CHIP) for America’s children. Medicaid covers approximately 83.5 million people (including more than 34.2 million children) — a 31 percent increase […]