Andrew Cohen, Director
 
Andrew Cohen is a Director of the Pacific Health Policy Group and is based in the firm's Laguna Beach, California office. He has over 20 years of experience in health care management as well as in public- and private-sector consulting.

In the public sector, he has worked on behalf of state legislatures and federal, state and county health care agencies responsible for publicly-funded health care services, incuding Medicaid/SCHIP, Medicare, indigent health care, correctional health and TRICARE. His clients have ranged from the Department of Defense and large states such as California and New York, to states with significant rural components, such as Alaska, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Mr Cohen's public sector expertise includes:

• Evaluating publicly-funded health care programs and developing strategies to improve access to care while containing costs
• Drafting Section 1115a and 1915b Medicaid waiver proposals for submission to the federal government, and assisting in the negotiation of waiver special terms and conditions
• Designing and implementing managed care programs, including specialized models for rural populations
• Designing and implementing specialized managed care programs for behavioral health and persons with chronic health conditions/disabilities, including long-term care populations - both the frail elderly/physically disabled and persons with developmental disabilities
• Developing public/private models for making affordable health insurance available to low-income working families
• Evaluating provider payment systems and implementing pay-for-performance reimbursement
• Designing single point-of-entry systems and developing clinical pre-admission screening instruments for Medicaid long-term care programs

Mr Cohen also has provided consulting services to a wide variety of providers and health insurers, incuding some of the nation's largest managed care organizations. Mr Cohen's private sector expertise includes:  

• Evaluating markets and developing business plans for organizations considering entry into the publicly-funded health care sector
• Drafting proposals to serve Medicaid/SCHIP and other publicly-funded populations, in response to government Requests for Proposals
• Conducting internal readiness reviews to assist organizations in preparing to serve Medicaid/SCHIP enrollees, particularly special needs populations such as persons with disabilities
• Advising on potential mergers and acquisitions

Before coming to the Pacific Health Policy Group, Mr Cohen was a Manager in the National Health Care Practice at KPMG Peat Marwick. Prior to that, he worked for the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente and the Scott & White Health System in Temple, Texas.

He has a Masters in Business Administration from the J L Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Occidental College in Los Angeles.