BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Charlie Baker has named two new members to the board overseeing the state’s health connector.
Mark Gaunya and Rina Vertes took their seats at a board meeting this morning. They fill two of the positions that opened last month when Baker asked for and received the resignations of four board members.
Gaunya is co-owner and chief information officer at Borislow Insurance. He takes the spot on the board reserved for an insurance broker.
Vertes, president of Marjos Business Consulting, fills the seat set aside for a health insurance actuary.
Among the board members who stepped down was MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, who came under fire for saying it was “the stupidity of the American voter” that led to the passage of the 2010 federal health care law. He has since apologized.
“The Health Connector board is hugely important to the people’s ability to access health care options and the experts we appointed today are vital to improving the once troubled system,” said Baker. “I believe people are policy and I look forward to working with these health care experts as they lead the exchange.”
“Our administration believes these health care professionals with decades of experience will continue the turnaround effort of the Connector,” said Lieutenant Governor Polito, “and provide the people of Massachusetts with an efficient, well run exchange.”
Gaunya and Vertes will serve as two of Baker’s four appointments to the 11-member Health Connector Board. Gaunya will sit in the seat reserved by statute for a member of the broker community and Vertes will take the seat reserved for a health insurance actuary. They will both participate in today’s Health Connector Board meeting.
“The broker community plays an important role in the Massachusetts healthcare market – we are the trusted advisors businesses and consumers rely on for objective advice and counsel on their healthcare needs,” Gaunya said. “I am honored Governor Baker asked me to serve on the Massachusetts Health Connector Board of Directors. This is a busy and important time in healthcare reform, and I am excited to be participating in the challenging work going forward.”
“Thank you to Governor Baker for this opportunity to participate in Massachusetts’ continued efforts to make health care accessible and affordable to everyone,” said Vertes. “I look forward to being part of the next steps the Health Connector and Commonwealth take to ensure Massachusetts remains a leader in health care.”
About Mark S. Gaunya:
Gaunya is a co-owner of Borislow Insurance, a Massachusetts-based, New England region brokerage and consulting firm since 2005, and has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He has held a number of senior leadership positions for regional and national health insurers and provider organizations in Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and is ACA and Self-Funding certified by the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU). Gaunya has served as the National Chair of the Healthcare Cost & Quality Transparency Taskforce for NAHU, and in 2013 he was appointed to the Legislative Council to continue that work. He has also served as President of the Massachusetts Association of Health Underwriters (MassAHU) from 2009-2013. Under his leadership, MassAHU advocated for and helped to legislate the addition of the NAHU Connector Board seat that he will now occupy representing his broker colleagues all across the Commonwealth.
About Rina Vertes:
Vertes is currently the leader of Marjos Business Consulting, with 25 years of experience at health care and insurance companies, including Minuteman Health as Chief Financial Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts as Chief Actuary and Chief Underwriter, and CIGNA where she held positions in the Health Care and Investment Divisions. While at Blue Cross, Vertes co-led the development and implementation of the Alternative Quality Contract, a payment model incorporating risk-adjusted global payment and performance-based incentives, and was involved with Massachusetts’ health care reform from its inception. Vertes is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.
