Altarum Announces New Board of Trustees Members

Recognized experts in serving Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, Melanie Bella and Bruce C. Vladeck will guide the nonprofit as it works to improve health care for more Americans.

Altarum today announced that Melanie Bella, a leader in Medicaid and dual eligibles, and Bruce C. Vladeck, a leader in health care policy, health care financing, and long-term care, have joined Altarum’s Board of Trustees, effective January 1, 2022.

“As we work to improve health equity and outcomes, we’re honored to have Melanie and Bruce on our Board,” said Michael Monson, Altarum chief executive officer and president. “They have both demonstrated outstanding commitments to improving the health of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and we’re excited about working with them to advance our mission to improve the care of populations disenfranchised by the health care system.”

Melanie Bella is the head of partnerships and policy for Cityblock Health, an innovative health care provider built to deliver high-value, personalized health services to Medicaid and lower-income Medicare beneficiaries. She also serves as chair of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), a non-partisan agency that advises Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and states.

Prior to joining Cityblock, Bella served as the first director of the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Under her leadership, CMS designed and launched demonstrations across the country to test new delivery system and payment models for dually eligible enrollees in both community and institutional settings, growing enrollment to roughly 400,000 beneficiaries. Before that, she was the Medicaid director for the state of Indiana, and then the senior vice president for policy and operations at the Center for Health Care Strategies.

“Altarum has extensive experience implementing novel solutions to better serve low-income populations with complex needs,” said Bella. “This aligns with my passion for expanding the availability of integrated, value-based care models for dual eligibles across the country and I’m excited to join as a trustee.”

A nationally recognized health policy expert and advocate for improving and expanding health insurance for older adults, people with disabilities, and people with fewer financial resources, Bruce C. Vladeck has held senior positions in health care operations, state and federal government, and academic institutions. As administrator at the Health Care Financing Administration, which became CMS, he was the principal federal official responsible for Medicare and Medicaid. Of his many accomplishments in that position, he is proudest of refocusing the organization on services to beneficiaries.

Other senior management positions held by Vladeck include assistant commissioner of health in the New Jersey Department of Health, president of the United Hospital Fund, senior vice president of Mount Sinai Medical Center, and interim president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He has been a member of the full-time faculty at Columbia University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine and held adjunct appointments at Rutgers, Princeton, and the Aquinas Institute of Theology. He has also served as a trustee or director of many organizations, including the Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Care for the Homeless, and March of Dimes.

Vladeck currently serves as a senior advisor to the Greater New York Hospital Association and LiveOn NY, a membership organization representing 3.2 million older New Yorkers and their caregivers. He is chairman emeritus of the board of Medicare Rights Center and serves on the boards of Penn Medicine and the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital and as a consultant to several health care organizations. Published widely in the professional literature, Vladeck’s 1980 book Unloving Care: The Nursing Home Tragedy remains the standard reference on nursing home policy in the United States today.

“There aren’t many organizations with the expertise to do the work Altarum is doing in long-term services and supports,” said Vladeck. “It is essential that we strengthen our direct care workforce and adapt current payment and service delivery models to better serve a fast-rising population of older adults. I’m honored to join Altarum as a trustee and share in this journey.”

Altarum is a nonprofit organization that works with federal and state agencies and foundations to design and implement solutions to advance the health of individuals with fewer financial resources and populations disenfranchised by the health care system. We achieve measurable results by combining our expertise in public health and service delivery with technology development and implementation, training and technical assistance, process improvement, data analytics, and research and evaluation. Our innovative solutions help to scale public health infrastructure and integrate public health and service delivery—leading to better value and health for all.

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