Contact Kelly

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.

Latest From Kelly

How do State Policy Decisions Help or Hinder Access to Health Coverage for Latino Children?

As the overall child uninsured rate started going in the wrong direction between 2016 and 2019, Latino children were disproportionately affected, widening the long-standing coverage disparity after years of progress. As of 2019, there is an almost 5 percentage point gap between the uninsured rate for non-Latino and Latino children nationwide (4.4 percent versus 9.3 […]

Getting Back on Track: A Detailed Look at Health Coverage Trends for Latino Children

Introduction From 2008 to 2016, the Latino child uninsured rate fell steadily, eventually achieving a historic low of 7.7 percent in 2016.1 Although this rate was still higher than that for non-Latino children, the decline signaled steady progress towards narrowing health coverage disparities between Latino children and their peers. However, as the overall child uninsured […]

Getting Back on Track: A Detailed Look at Health Coverage Trends for Latino Children Appendix

Appendix A. How the Census Bureau Collects Questions about Race and Ethnicity on the American Community Survey and Compiles Hispanic/Latino Data The American Community Survey (ACS), fielded by the U.S. Census Bureau, collects questionnaires from approximately 3.5 million households every year and extrapolates estimates from these responses.35 The ACS provides the most reliable annual estimates […]

Getting Back on Track: A Detailed Look at Health Coverage Trends for Latino Children Methodology

Methodology Data Sources Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) uses the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), an annual survey of approximately 3.5 million individuals, to analyze national, state, and local trends in health insurance coverage. The data in this report come from three sources: 2016-2019 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), a […]

Biden Administration Must Rise to the Challenge and Protect Migrant Children

Vice President Harris has been tasked with untangling myriad migration challenges at the U.S. southern border, including addressing the root causes of migration from Central America. The list of possible root causes is long, and solving problems such as political instability, violence, deep poverty, and devastation brought on by natural disasters is not going to […]