PROVIDENCE –Governor Donald L. Carcieri has chosen Christopher F. Koller, CEO of the Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island since 1996, as the state’s first health insurance commissioner, to begin as soon as he’s confirmed by the state Senate.
Carcieri said Koller, who will earn $134,000, will be “my top advisor on health care policy,” and will chair a new Health Care Cabinet that brings together the state’s health, human services and elderly affairs directors and the Office of Health and Human Services.
The group, which Carcieri said will be advised by a panel of “major players” – providers, insurers, academia, etc. – will also be charged with drawing up “a plan to improve access, quality and affordability of health care in Rhode Island.”
It’s been six months since the General Assembly passed a law creating the health commissioner job, which goes well beyond the Department of Business Regulation’s traditional work to include consumer protection, support for providers’ interests, and the advancement of policies to improve health care quality, efficiency and accessibility.
As a “nationally recognized leader in the health care field,” Carcieri said, Koller is the “perfect candidate for the job,” and he has “long been acknowledged as Rhode Island’s most innovative advocate for high quality, affordable health care.”
Koller, 43, is well-regarded in consumer protection and health care circles, locally and nationally. He helped create and was the first chairman of a national association of health center-based plans, and he chaired the health care task force on Carcieri’s transition team.
Koller graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1983, and has master’s degrees from Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Organization and Management.
At a news conference, Koller said in creating his job, legislators had rightly recognized the need for “a stronger state role in overseeing the health insurance market,” and he vowed to pay special attention to the needs of “at-risk” populations such as the 10 percent of Rhode Islanders who are uninsured. He also promised to be accessible, to work collaboratively, and to bring “balance” to the job, inviting all sides to the table.
Neighborhood Health Plan, the state’s largest Medicaid plan manager, was established in 1994 by community health centers to coordinate care for the poor and uninsured. It has about 73,000 members and $135 million in annual revenues.
Carcieri’s choice earned him kudos from sometimes-critics. Secretary of State Matt Brown issued a news release hailing Koller as “someone who has a strong track record of providing affordable health care.” And Senator Elizabeth Roberts (D-Cranston), who with state Rep. Steven M. Costantino (D-Providence) spearheaded the effort to create the new post, praised Koller’s “excellent record of accomplishment.”
Marti Rosenberg, executive director of Ocean State Action, a consumer advocacy group with a strong focus on health care, said her group is “thrilled” by Koller’s appointment.
“We think that he really fulfills the vision that we had of what the insurance commissioner could achieve, in terms of public accountability and providing health care for all in Rhode Island,” Rosenberg said. “I think he shares that deep commitment that everybody should have quality affordable care. And he’s smart, and will be the right person to take this office and run with it.”
