Healthcare Financial Management Association Recognizes Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Director Elizabeth Fowler for Contributions to Healthcare

(Las Vegas) June 27, 2024 — The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) presented its highest achievement award, the Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award, to CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) Elizabeth Fowler, Ph.D., J.D., today during HFMA’s annual conference in Las Vegas.

The 2024 Clarke Board of Directors award is presented to Fowler in recognition of her accessibility and willingness to engage with a broad spectrum of health industry leaders and her commitment to advancing value-based care and payment models to support financial sustainability.

This includes providing valuable industry insights to inform model development and collaborating with the CMS Innovation Center on value-based care sustainability and strategies to improve the care experience.

“Rising healthcare costs create more price sensitivity among healthcare purchasers, including consumers, who are being asked to pay higher premiums and cost sharing. In this environment, it’s financially imperative to develop collaborative approaches that combine strong clinical outcomes with effective cost containment,” said HFMA President and CEO C. Ann Jordan, J.D. “HFMA has long led and supported efforts to improve healthcare value and guide the transition to a value-based payment system. We applaud Dr. Fowler’s collaborative leadership style, which facilitates input from the field.”

Fowler previously served as Executive Vice President of Programs at The Commonwealth Fund and Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson. She was special assistant to President Obama on healthcare and economic policy at the National Economic Council. In 2008-10, she was Chief Health Counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chair, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), where she played a critical role developing the Senate version of the Affordable Care Act. She also played a key role drafting the 2003 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act.  

“Thanks to HFMA for your partnership and commitment to value-based care, and thank you for the honor of receiving the Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award,” said Fowler. “I am deeply humbled to be recognized by an organization that is such an important partner in the effort to improve the U.S. health system for better health outcomes.”

Fowler has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health services research. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her research focused on risk adjustment, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. She is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Fowler is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and she was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine in 2023.

Established in 1964, HFMA’s Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award recognizes individuals who make significant, positive contributions to the profession of healthcare finance or the financing of healthcare services.

About HFMA

The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) equips its more than 117,000 members to navigate a complex healthcare landscape. Finance professionals in the full range of work settings, including hospitals, health systems, physician practices and health plans, trust HFMA to provide the guidance and tools to help them lead their organizations, and the industry, forward. HFMA is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that advances healthcare by collaborating with other key stakeholders to address industry challenges and providing guidance, education, practical tools and solutions, and thought leadership. We lead the financial management of healthcare.

Press inquiries should be directed to:

Brad Dennison
Healthcare Financial Management Association
(630) 386-2945
[email protected]