Employers face multiple challenges in providing health insurance to employees and their families.

• Approximately 160 million people in the United States get health insurance from their employers. About 104 million people participate in employer self-insured plans.
• Over the past 5 years, employer costs have increased 20 percent. Employee direct costs have risen 7 percent.¹
• Notwithstanding the ever-growing investment, nearly a majority of privately insured people now report low levels of satisfaction with the quality and cost of care, with women and racial minorities having the highest levels of concern.²

Large self-insured employers possess the greatest opportunity to change the trajectory of health care costs, access, and satisfaction by adopting innovative solutions. Building on her 30 years of experience, Barbara Markham Smith, JD brings a unique blend of operational, policy, and leadership experience to address the multiple challenges of providing health insurance to employees. She is an expert on value-based payment, reduction in the growth of health care costs, health care policy, implementation of initiatives to improve access to care and health equity, and community health. Working with the federal government, state health insurance commissions, academic health systems, insurers, Medicaid agencies, think tanks, and providers, Barbara is a leader in implementing new models for coverage and care that improve health outcomes and increase access to high-quality services.

Serving as Vice-President of Community Health and Innovation for VCU Health, the largest health system in Virginia, she created successful models to improve population health and health equity, launch payment reform initiatives, and foster health technology innovation.

Barbara was a key player in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at the US Department of Health of Human Services. She led the team that in 18 months established 23 new health insurance companies to promote competition, drive access, and lower costs.  She has also served as a senior health advisor in Congress. In think tanks and consulting, she led initiatives with federal and state governments, major institutions, and associations.

Barbara is the author of numerous articles and published studies on health care delivery and coverage expansion. She is a graduate of Harvard College and received her JD at Boston University Law School studying in a joint curriculum with the Harvard School of Public Health.