Transforming vision into system impact.

I'm a health care executive and attorney with more than fifteen years of leadership across health plans and state government, spanning Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial insurance. I've led market strategy and business growth, directed multi-billion-dollar public budgets, and designed reforms recognized nationally. I founded Vandehey Strategies to help organizations navigate the space where policy, strategy, and operations meet.

Advising nationally

As Principal of Vandehey Strategies, I provide strategic counsel to health care organizations and policymakers across Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial markets. I also lead the Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs, delivering technical assistance to state policymakers working to contain the cost of care — the national front line of the work I've done throughout my career.

Executive leadership in the market

As Oregon Market President for PacificSource Health Plans, I led regional strategy for a flagship market of more than 500,000 members — owning growth, provider contracting, government relations, and community engagement, with full P&L responsibility. I advanced value-based care, health equity, and cost containment across every line of business, and directed the development and successful bid of a new Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Earlier, I led government relations for Kaiser Permanente's Northwest Region, a fully integrated system with 500,000 members and a $2 billion budget.

Policy & government strategy

As Director of the Health Policy & Analytics Division at the Oregon Health Authority, I served as the state's chief of policy and health reform — leading a team of 200+ and a $2 billion annual budget. I was executive sponsor of the largest Medicaid managed care procurement in state history, serving 1.4 million Oregonians. As Health Care Advisor to Governor Kate Brown, I led the eight-month renewal of the state's five-year 1115 Medicaid waiver and negotiated the bipartisan package that closed a $1 billion Medicaid shortfall — preserving coverage for 400,000 people and creating a reinsurance program that cut individual premiums by 6%. Earlier still, I helped design and implement Oregon's coordinated care model, one of the most widely cited Medicaid reforms of the past decade.

Cost, financing & regulation

My focus throughout has been the sustainability of the system. I led the creation of Oregon's Cost Growth Target program and a first-of-its-kind Health Care Market Oversight program reviewing mergers and acquisitions, and launched the "OHP Bridge" Basic Health Plan. I've negotiated federal 1115 Medicaid waivers, a 1331 Basic Health Plan, and multiple provider-tax and long-term funding packages — with hands-on expertise in health plan, hospital, and provider financing, contracting, and managed care rate-setting on both the public and private sides.

Why I consult

I'm mission-driven by background as much as by title. I grew up in Forest Grove, Oregon, and began my career in public-interest law — as a public defender and as counsel at Disability Rights Oregon — an orientation I've carried into every role since. I founded this practice to help leaders navigate today's toughest health care challenges with one end in mind: a better, more sustainable system for the patients who depend on it.

Areas of expertise