Health Policy Leader Alan Weil To Become New Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief

Health Affairs and its publisher Project HOPE are pleased to announce that Alan Weil will become the journal’s new editor-in-chief on June 2, 2014.

Weil, a highly respected expert in health policy and current member of Health Affairs’ editorial board, will lead the journal after serving as the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) since 2004. His work with state policymakers of both political parties put Weil at the forefront of health reform policy, implementation, innovation, and practice. Prior to his leadership of NASHP, he served in both the public and private sectors. He directed the Urban Institute’s “Assessing New Federalism” project; served as the executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and a health policy advisor to Colorado’s then-governor, Roy Romer; and was the assistant general counsel in the Massachusetts Department of Medical Security.

“We’re delighted to welcome Alan to the Project HOPE family,” said John P. Howe III, M.D., President and CEO of Project HOPE.  “He comes to Health Affairs with more than 24 years of experience in health policy development and a stellar record of leadership and innovation in this field.  I’m confident he will lead the journal’s talented staff on a new and successful path forward.  I am extremely grateful to John Iglehart, the Founding Editor of Health Affairs for his stewardship of the journal for more than 25 years, ensuring its coveted rank as the leading health policy journal of our time.”

“Alan Weil’s extensive background in health and health care policy will serve him well in his new role as Health Affairs’ editor-in-chief,” noted John Iglehart, who currently leads the journal.  “With his position on the front lines of health system change, he is an experienced leader who has deep familiarity with and longstanding connections to the health policy, research, and health care leadership communities.  In particular, in his role as NASHP’s executive director, Alan worked on complex issues of critical importance to leaders in state and federal government and the private sector.  This background will serve Health Affairs well as it continues to grow in influence both in the US and globally.”

A frequent speaker on national and state health policy, Medicaid, federalism, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Weil is a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Health Care Services.  He has served on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Geographic Variation in Health Care Spending, Committee on Pediatric Health and Health Care Quality, and the Subcommittee on Strategies and Models for Providing Health Insurance, Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance.  Weil has testified before Congress eight times, and serves on the board of trustees of the Consumer Health Foundation and the board of directors of the Essential Hospitals Institute.

Weil has also been a member of numerous commissions.  These include: The Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System; the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured; the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization (HCFO) Initiative; and two subcommittees of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) National Advisory Council on Healthcare Research and Quality.

Weil brings extensive academic and publication experience to the editor-in-chief position. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School; a master’s degree in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; and an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from the University of California at Berkeley.  He is the co-editor of two books and publishes regularly in peer-reviewed journals, including more than a dozen times in Health Affairs.  A list of Weil’s Health Affairs publications and presentations and a complete biography are available on the journal’s website.

“I am delighted to be taking on the role of editor-in-chief of Health Affairs,” said Weil.  “My goals for Health Affairs coalesce around a single theme: broadening the reach of the journal — into new communities around the United States and around the world. I look forward to starting on a journey that I believe will take a strong and important national resource and make it even stronger and more influential.” Alan Weil expands on his vision for the journal today on Health Affairs Blog.

ABOUT HEALTH AFFAIRS
Health Affairs is the leading journal at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published by Project HOPE, the peer-reviewed journal appears each month in print and online. Additional Web First papers are published periodically, and health policy briefs are published twice monthly at www.healthaffairs.org. You can also find the journal on Facebook and Twitter. Tap into Health Affairs content with its iPad app. Read daily perspectives on Health Affairs Blog. Listen to Health Affairs podcasts of policy conversations, events and Narrative Matters essays. John Iglehart served as founding editor of Health Affairs from 1981 until 2007. Subsequent editors-in-chief of the journal were Susan Dentzer and James Robinson.  More information about Health Affairs is available here and on its website.

ABOUT PROJECT HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves. Identifiable to many by the SS HOPE, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, and conducts humanitarian assistance programs in 35 countries. Follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg.