Contact Kelly

GeorgetownCCF kdw29@georgetown.edu

Kelly Whitener

Kelly Whitener is an Associate Professor of the Practice at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families (CCF) where she focuses on pediatric health benefits and managed care delivery systems as well as promoting state level advocacy to improve care for children and families. Prior to joining CCF, Kelly served as the Director of State Coverage Programs at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, overseeing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Basic Health Program. Kelly also worked for the Senate Committee on Finance, managing the Medicaid, CHIP, and prevention and wellness portfolio from October 2008 to April 2014. During her time with the committee, Kelly worked on the CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2009, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, and several year-end bills extending expiring safety net programs. Kelly studied psychology and Spanish at the University of Michigan and earned a Masters of Public Health from UCLA and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.

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Latest From Kelly

New Research Confirms the Public Charge Rule Deters Eligible Immigrant Families from Using Public Benefits

Researchers at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released a commentary in December documenting the chilling effects of the public charge rule on immigrant families’ use of benefits. Sadly, the American Community Survey (ACS) data confirm concerns raised by experts and advocates that the new public charge rule would deter large numbers of immigrant-led households from […]

Documenting the Harm of the Decline in Pediatric Visits: A Survey and Report from the Institute for Child Success

The Commonwealth Fund continues to track changes in outpatient visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, with October 2020 data showing outpatient care generally returning to pre-pandemic levels after the sharp decline of nearly 60 percent in late April. But the data also show that visits for younger children remain substantially below the prepandemic baseline and visits […]

New Grant Opportunity to Boost Well-Child Visits and Immunizations in Pediatric Primary Care

As part of our joint project with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Keeping Kids Connected to Care During COVID-19 and Beyond, we have been ringing the alarm bell about the troubling declines in well-child visits and immunizations because of the pandemic. Pediatricians and child health advocates have teamed up to educate and engage community […]

National Strategy Needed to Close Health Care Gaps, Protect Children’s Health and Well-Being

New research from the Urban Institute, “Urgent Action Needed to Address Children’s Unmet Health Care Needs during the Pandemic,” identifies the problems families with children are facing and some proven solutions, but explains that without a coordinated, national response, it’s unlikely that the children most at risk will get needed supports. Instead, as the authors […]

CMS Releases New Data on Decline in Pediatric Visits and Vaccination Rates with No Plan to Improve Care for Kids

CMS recently released a report on service use among children with Medicaid and CHIP during COVID-19. Perhaps the most newsworthy aspect of the report is that the data therein come from the much beleaguered Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) that my colleague, Tricia Brooks, has been following since CMS announced it in 2013. The […]