We are pleased that Governor Jerry Brown has appointed Shelley Rouillard, the new director of the California Department of Managed Health Care effective December 1, 2013. This is a critical post in the middle of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, enforcing the new consumer protections and insurance market rules.
She has served as chief deputy director since 2011, and has a long history working in California health policy, including as a fellow consumer advocate. Rouillard served as deputy director of the California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board, Benefits and Quality Monitoring Division from 2007 to 2011. She was program director of the Legal Services of Northern California’s Health Rights Hotline from 2006 to 2007 and from 1996 to 2004. Rouillard was chief of health policy at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System Office of Health Policy and Plan Administration in 2005. She was the principal at Rouillard Consulting from 2001 to 2004 and director of network operations at the Healthcare Compare Corporation from 1991 to 1996. Rouillard was a legislative advocate at the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation from 1987 to 1991.
In congratulating Shelley on her promotion, we also should congratulate Brent Barnhart, the current director of DMHC, who has served for the past two years and is retiring at the end of November. We appreciated working with Brent in this critical time in getting the Affordable Care Act off the ground, and working on key consumer protections. We have worked with him on key issues from new enforcement of timely access to care standards to using new rate review authority. We look forward to engaging Shelley on these and other topics.