• Topics
    • Medicaid
    • Waivers
    • CHIP
    • Health Equity
    • Marketplace
    • Rural Health
  • Say Ahhh! Blog
  • State Resources
    • Percent of Children Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
    • Percent of Adults Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
    • 2016 Maps and Data
    • 2015 Maps and Data
    • State Health Care Coverage Facts
  • Research
    • Research & Reports
    • Comments on Federal Regulations
  • About Us
    • Faculty and Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Supporters
    • Projects
    • News
    • Jobs
Skip to content
Logo Georgetown Center for Children and Families Homepage
  • Topics
    • Medicaid
    • Waivers
    • CHIP
    • Health Equity
    • Marketplace
    • Rural Health
  • Say Ahhh! Blog
  • State Resources
    • Percent of Children Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
    • Percent of Adults Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
    • 2016 Maps and Data
    • 2015 Maps and Data
    • State Health Care Coverage Facts
  • Research
    • Research & Reports
    • Comments on Federal Regulations
  • About Us
    • Faculty and Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Supporters
    • Projects
    • News
    • Jobs
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS

Contact Joan

JoanAlker1 jca25@georgetown.edu

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.

Subscribe to Updates from our Team

      Latest From Joan

      Medicaid Expansion’s Effects on Families: More coverage, improved maternal health, better preventive care

      We’ve been tracking the rates of uninsured children for more than a decade now, and after reaching an all-time low in 2016 nationwide, the number started going in the wrong direction over the past three years. From 2016 to 2019 approximately 726,000 more children became uninsured. The report we released today looks more closely at […]

      Report Finds Medicaid Expansion Associated with Lower Child Uninsured Rates

      Introduction Since its passage in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has played a critical role in lowering the rate of uninsured children in America. A key part of the ACA’s success in this area was the Act’s expansion of Medicaid to more working-age adults. In 2016, just two years after the majority of states […]

      Biden Administration Withdraws Medicaid Work Requirements Guidance and More

      President Biden was quoted last week as saying that he was not watching the impeachment trial because he had work to do. On Friday afternoon, February 12th, it was clear that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), now under new management, was doing a great deal of work to rollback a signature policy […]

      Child Medicaid Enrollment Grew by 10% during the Pandemic in 2020    

      The chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, recently explained  that the official unemployment statistics are too low, and that unemployment was closer to 10% in January. With the pandemic still raging and economic conditions looking very troubling, Congress is considering a COVID relief package with some important Medicaid provisions – my colleague Edwin Park […]

      Trump’s Farewell Gift to Florida’s Medicaid Program

      A few days before departing, former CMS Administrator and Trump appointee Seema Verma handed out ten-year Medicaid demonstration waiver extensions for political allies, with Texas and Florida,[1] approvals being granted late Friday, January 15th. The Friday before (Jan. 8th) CMS had approved the infamous and dangerous Tennessee waiver, which my colleagues explained beautifully here. Ten […]

      • Topics
        • Medicaid
        • Waivers
        • CHIP
        • Health Equity
        • Marketplace
        • Rural Health
      • Say Ahhh! Blog
      • State Resources
        • Percent of Children Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
        • Percent of Adults Covered by Medicaid/CHIP by Congressional District, 2018
        • 2016 Maps and Data
        • 2015 Maps and Data
        • State Health Care Coverage Facts
      • Research
        • Research & Reports
        • Comments on Federal Regulations
      • About Us
        • Faculty and Staff
        • Contact Us
        • Supporters
        • Projects
        • News
        • Jobs
      • Facebook
      • Twitter
      • RSS

      The Center for Children & Families (CCF), part of the Health Policy Institute at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, is an independent, nonpartisan policy and research center with a mission to expand and improve high-quality, affordable health coverage. Founded in 2005, CCF is devoted to improving the health of America’s children and families, particularly those with low and moderate incomes. Contact Us

      Georgetown University Crest
      © 2021 Center for Children & Families (CCF) of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
      3300 Whitehaven Street, N.W. | Suite 5000 | Washington, DC 20057-1485 | 202.784.3138