Puneet Budhiraja Chief Actuary and Senior Vice President
Capital District Physicians Health Plan
Puneet Budhiraja joined CDPHP in 2013 and currently serves as senior vice president and chief actuary. In this role, he oversees the preparation and submission of all Commercial and Medicare rate filings. He is also responsible for creating new value-based initiatives and monitoring existing ones. Value-based programs allow CDPHP to partner with providers to attain the common goal of reducing overall health care costs while also improving quality.
Puneet has over 15 years of health care actuarial experience, working for insurance companies as well as consulting companies. Prior to joining CDPHP, Puneet worked as an actuary at Cigna Healthcare and was an actuarial consultant at Deloitte Consulting.
Puneet holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering and program in M.S. electrical engineering from New Mexico State University, N.M. Puneet graduated from the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Executive Leadership Program (ELP) for healthcare executives. Puneet is a member of the Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries. Puneet also serves as a committee member for the American Academy of Actuaries. Puneet has also peer-reviewed and published multiple papers for the Society of Actuaries journals.
Kristy Croom Tucker Director of Member Experience & Acquisition
BayCare
Kristy Croom Tucker is the Director of Member Experience & Acquisition for BayCare Health Plans, a subsidiary of BayCare Health System—the largest health system in the Tampa Bay area. BayCare Health Plans’ first insurance plan, BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage, began in January 2019, currently serves about 12,000 Medicare beneficiaries across four counties and is rated Five Stars by CMS for the 2022 plan year.
Kristy started at BayCare in 2011 as a hospital marketing manager and oversaw the marketing of four hospitals and the system-wide marketing of several key service lines, including cardiovascular services and neurosciences. In 2014, Kristy moved on to become the System Marketing Manager for Consumers for BayCare. In that role, she oversaw the marketing of BayCare’s extensive ambulatory division and the development and marketing of several mobile applications. Kristy also oversaw the development and launch of BayCare’s first brand campaign—Humanity at Work. Kristy transitioned to the health plan with the launch of BayCarePlus Medicare Advantage.
Prior to her role at BayCare, Kristy was Director of Communication for Rasmussen College. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas. Rock chalk Jayhawk!
When she’s not thinking about branding, member experience and cost-per-acquisition, Kristy enjoys being the mom of two perfect angels, Gabriella and Sebastian. The Tucker family enjoys going on adventures, being outdoors, craft beers and traveling.
Donna Doebler AVP, Medicare SNP Product & Analytics
UPMC Health Plan, Inc.
Dr. Almario Doebler is the Associate Vice President of Medicare and SNP Product and Analytics at UPMC Health Plan. Dr. Almario Doebler leads the analytics and product strategy of the Medicare Advantage team. Her focus is in promoting health equity and understanding the social, community, and contextual factors that impact health outcomes, especially with the aging population.
Lisa Franklin Manager, Government Products Lifecycle
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Lisa Franklin is currently a Manager of the Government Products Lifecycle (strategy, design, management, and optimization) at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield leading the overall product vision and strategy to launch and continuously improve both Individual Medicare Advantage plans (including Dual Special Needs) and Group Medicare Advantage plans in the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia areas. Her focus is managing a team that leads cross-functional discussions to meet milestones on the product roadmap towards the short and long-term strategic goals. Lisa previously worked at Johns Hopkins Healthcare in Maryland as Product Development Manager in a similar role. She has over 5 years of experience leading the Medicare Advantage Bid process at multiple organizations with a passion for ensuring that data is the driving force for every element of the product lifecycle. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and corgi, Turbo, as well as spinning and shopping (more online now!).
Ana Handshuh
Principal, CAT5 Strategies
Chair, The RISE Association, Quality & Revenue Community
Chair, The RISE Association, Quality & Revenue Community
Ana Handshuh, CHC, is a government programs executive with expertise in creating and implementing corporate programs for the healthcare industry. Ms. Handshuh is the Principal at CAT5 Strategies, a healthcare advisory practice specializing in Regulatory and Operational Compliance, Revenue Management, Communications, Quality, Care Management Programs, Benefit and Formulary Design, Program Bid Submission, Accreditation, and Technology Integration. She recently founded TRACSCOUT, a technology startup SaaS platform for managed care processes.
Her recent consultancy roles include conducting compliance risk assessments, performing Compliance Program Effectiveness audits, conducting FDR and PBM pre‐delegation audit, preparing for CMS program audit, and writing and implementing post‐audit corrective action plans. Ms. Handshuh has also assisted government program sponsors achieve higher Star ratings, create and implement care management programs, document their processes and procedures, achieve accreditation status, design and submit government program bids, institute corporate‐wide programs and create communications strategies and materials. She is a member of the Health Care Compliance Association and is Certified in Healthcare Compliance by the Compliance Certification Board. Ana currently serves on the Board of the Resource Initiative and Society for Education (RISE), the preeminent national professional association dedicated to managed and accountable care financing and delivery.
Ms. Handshuh previously served as the Vice President of Managed Care Services at Central Florida Inpatient Medicine (CFIM), providing leadership and strategy on CFIM projects with physicians, risk entities, hospital systems, and health plans. Prior to that assignment, she worked with Precision Healthcare Systems as their Vice President of Quality Improvement, leading the IPA’s collaborations with payers to implement Quality and Star Rating initiatives. Ms. Handshuh also served as the Director of Corporate Program Development at Physicians United Plan (PUP), leading the Medicare health plan’s Quality Management and Corporate Communications departments and spearheading the development of innovative integrated technology solutions to drive business excellence and Star Rating achievement. Prior to joining Physicians United Plan Ms. Handshuh was the founder of I-Six Creative. Under Ms. Handshuh’s vision and leadership, I-Six provided expertise in the areas of managed Medicare benefit design, MSO/IPA operations, provider network strategy, new market launches, technology integration, corporate communications and quality improvement.
Hannah began her career working extensively in politics and state government before joining the health insurance industry. Since joining Network Health, Hannah has held positions covering the intersection of public relations, member experience, product planning, vendor management, government relations and community engagement. In her current role, Hannah focuses on Network Health’s Medicare Advantage and other government-sponsored health insurance products, as well as key commercial client products.
Hannah is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago and the John Felice Rome Center. She enjoys volunteering for a variety of nonprofit organizations including the American Heart Association and Feeding America, and can most often be found trying to control the chaos with her three young children.
Monica Pagels is a Senior Product Manager for Health Alliance Plan (HAP) in Detroit, Michigan. HAP is a regional health plan with HMO, PPO and SNP plans that serve over 70,000 Medicare lives in over 40 counties across the state of Michigan. HAP is a solution based health plan, providing meaningful benefits that support community needs, including aging in place, removing barriers to care and managing insecurities. Monica has been with HAP since 2017 and has worked in the health insurance field since 2009. Monica holds a Master of Science from Eastern Michigan University and a BS from Central Michigan University. She has extensive experience in Project Management, program design and improving health outcomes. She has worked with special populations and helped to create chronic condition management programs.
Mike Spicer Director, Product Innovation & Research
Capital District Physicians' Health Plan
Mike leads the product innovation team of portfolio managers, researchers, and analysts at CDPHP in Albany, NY. Mike’s team is always seeking out new trends and disruptions in healthcare to enhance CDPHP’s product portfolio, running the gamut from digital health technologies to high deductible plans paired with HSAs. Mike is most interested in studying and utilizing consumer behavior trends in healthcare, including the choices people make, why they make those choices, and the influences required to help them make choices that are more appropriate. Originally from Syracuse, New York, Mike relocated for his post-secondary education, including a B.S. from Union College focused in Neuroscience and Quantitative Economics, as well as a master’s of Business Administration (M.B.A.) focused in Healthcare Management from Clarkson University. Mike now resides with his family and dachshunds in Latham while continuing to work on his golf game.
Rex Wallace is the founder and principal of Rex Wallace Consulting, LLC, a firm that specializes in improving Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage health plans. Rex assesses plans and guides them in the development and implementation of-leading strategies to drive material Quality Improvement. Since its inception in 2017, RWC has helped multiple Medicare Advantage contracts achieve significant improvements in Star Ratings, including single-year full-Star improvements. Prior to launching RWC, Rex spent twenty-three years in strategic healthcare roles, with a strong focus on Medicare Advantage. Most recently, he led Stars for a large, multi-state plan that consistently achieved 4 and 4.5 Stars across its multiple contracts.
