Our Team

David Panush

President

David Panush

President

David’s 35 years in state government give him a unique understanding of policy, politics, state budget issues, and the inner workings of the legislative process. As a senior level executive at Covered California, and a veteran legislative consultant to five State Senate Leaders, David knows how the Capitol works, and how to be a catalyst for change.

As the former External Affairs Director for Covered California, David was part of the core senior leadership team responsible for standing up and launching the California Health Benefit Exchange, which now has over 1.3 million members. In his role, he provided leadership, strategic guidance, and management of the Exchange’s external relationships with elected officials, stakeholders, and state and federal agencies. He was also responsible for legislation and analysis of policy issues that affected the Exchange.

Before joining Covered California, David served in the California State Legislature for over thirty years. He helped advise five State Senate Presidents Pro Tempore – David Roberti, Bill Lockyer, John Burton, Don Perata and Darrell Steinberg. In his role as Health Policy Advisor, David served as the lead staff for the State Senate on California’s effort to enact comprehensive health reform (2007 and 2008) and played a leadership role to California’s landmark Affordable Care Act implementation legislation, which established the “Bridge to Reform” Medi-Cal Waiver and the California Health Benefit Exchange. David served as policy advisor on budget and fiscal issues, particularly in the areas of state and local criminal justice policy, juvenile justice, and health and human services issues.

David graduated from UC Berkeley and now lives in Sacramento with his wife, Eve. They have two children, Michael and Jenny. In his spare time, David plays and sings classic rock tunes – along with some originals – with the Sacramento Remedy7 band.

Phone:(916) 842-0715
Email:[email protected]

David Maxwell-Jolly

Senior Advisor

David Maxwell-Jolly

Senior Advisor

As former Chief Deputy Executive Director at Covered California, Undersecretary and Deputy Secretary at the Health and Human Services Agency, and Director of the Department of Health Care Services, David understands how state government works.

Dr. David Maxwell-Jolly recently retired as Chief Deputy Executive Director at Covered California where he oversaw the management, program development, and implementation of the California’s health benefit exchange. His departure from Covered California marked the end of a 31-year career with the State of California during which Dr. Maxwell-Jolly held a series of senior executive positions. These include Undersecretary and Deputy Secretary at the Health and Human Services Agency, Director of the Department of Health Care Services, Chief Deputy and Director of the Department of Child Support Services, and Director of the California Child Support Automated System at the Franchise Tax Board.

Phone:(916) 502-2210
Email:[email protected]

Jane Ogle

Senior Advisor

Jane Ogle

Senior Advisor

Having previously served as Deputy Director for Healthcare Delivery Systems at the California Department of Health Care Services, and Chief Operating Officer of Santa Clara Family Health Plan, Jane is a recognized expert on Medi-Cal Managed Care and Medicare policy.

Jane Ogle is the former Deputy Director for Healthcare Delivery Systems at the Department of Health Care Services. During her 3 years at the Department she was responsible for the Low Income Health Program at ultimately transitioned 640,000 childless adults into Medi-Cal in January, 2014; the Long term care division that oversees programs for the most at risk older adults in the state; California Children’s Services; and the Managed Care Division that expanded Medi-Cal managed care to all 58 counties and transitioned 900,000 children from Healthy Families into Medi-Cal. She was responsible for the Coordinated Care Initiative that 8 counties are implementing to integrate Medicare and Medi-Cal services with long term services and supports for 456,000 people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal. In addition, long term services and supports will be provided to all Medi-Cal members through managed Medi-Cal health plans in those 8 counties.

Prior to her work at the state, Ms. Ogle worked at Santa Clara Family Health Plan as its first COO and in the health and hospital system at Santa Clara County. She spent more than 20 years in hospital administration at hospitals in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey.

Ms. Ogle is a graduate of Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service.

Phone:(408) 916-6939
Email:[email protected]

Jeanne Cain

Senior Advisor

A recognized political, policy strategist, advocate and executive in California for over two decades, bringing unique insight and practical experience from the public and private sectors.

Jeanne Cain

Senior Advisor

A recognized political, policy strategist, advocate and executive in California for over two decades, bringing unique insight and practical experience from the public and private sectors.

As the Founder and CEO of Cain Strategies, Jeanne Cain applies her unique insight and experience to advise businesses and organizations on how to successfully understand and navigate California laws and regulations to meet their goals.

Before forming Cain Strategies, she was the Executive Vice President of the California Chamber of Commerce overseeing the development of public policy and strategy for business related issues and as Regional Vice President of the American Insurance Association.

In addition, she has significant experience in the legislative and executive branches of government, having served as legislative secretary and deputy chief of staff for Governor Pete Wilson, deputy secretary for the Health and Human Services Agency, staff to the California Department of Finance and the California State Assembly fiscal committee.

Her current board experiences include President for a family run farming business, Treasurer of California Women Lead and member of Teach for America. Prior board experiences include serving as the Board Chair and leading the reform and restructuring efforts for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF), a member of the Pacific Business Group on Health, a member of PAC Advantage, a small group health purchasing pool, and a member of the California Civil Justice Association.

Phone:(916) 521-4629
Email:[email protected]

Lance Lang, MD, FAAFP

Senior Medical Advisor

Lance Lang, MD, FAAFP

Senior Medical Advisor

Dr. Lang is a nationally recognized expert and advocate on the health care delivery system, and the value of primary care, integration and coordination. He is also on the Board of Directors for the National Quality Forum and holds an appointment Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF.

Most recently, Dr. Lang served as Covered California’s Chief Medical Officer. In this role he led important initiatives to promote primary care as the foundation of health care delivery, integration and coordination of care, and to hold health plans accountable for managing variation in performance of provider networks.

He served as Clinical Director for the California Quality Collaborative (CQC) from 2010-15. His work at CQC included leading an Advanced Primary Care Practice Coaching Collaborative and serving as a coach in the hospital safety program, Partnership for Patients, sponsored by the CMS Innovation Center.

Dr. Lang served as National Vice President and Clinical Quality Officer for Health Net, Inc. from 2000 to early 2009. Previously, Dr. Lang was Vice President and National Director of clinical computing at Kaiser Permanente, following 19 years of clinical and leadership experience with Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound.

Dr. Lang was certified by the American Board of Family Practice 1978-2014 and earned added qualification in Geriatrics in 1988. He attended Pomona College, the University of Connecticut Medical School and received Family Medicine training at Duke University where he also served as Chief Resident.

Phone:(510) 333-8629
Email:[email protected]

Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, RN, MPH

Senior Advisor

Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, RN, MPH

Senior Advisor

Ms. Stanley-Salazar, M.P.H. began her career in the substance abuse field at Behavioral Health Services in Torrance, California, as the Vice-President of Alcohol Services and Administrator of Redgate Memorial Hospital. There she directed the opening, licensing and JCAHO accreditation of the first free standing Chemical Dependency Recovery Hospital in Southern California in 1983.She left BHS in 1987 to join the Monterey County Public Health Department as the County Alcohol and Drug Program Administrator.

It was her work on the Monterey County Master Plan and active participation in public policy and service committees in Sacramento that led to her appointment as the Chief Deputy Director of the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. From 1990 through 1994, she was responsible for system administration, funding and continuous quality improvement of the AOD service delivery network in California. While at CDADP, she developed and supported the California Women’s Services Network and brought attention to services for substance exposed infants and teens. She began her tenure of 20 years with Phoenix Houses of California, as Regional Executive Director for Phoenix House Foundation’s California Affiliates in 1994. Phoenix House's first mental health contract was secured in 2000 with Los Angeles County serving teens with co-occurring disorders. With transformative changes occurring in the substance abuse field, she stepped into the role of Managing Director of Phoenix Academy Adolescent Program, resulting in 2010 in CARF accreditation of the continuum of care, as an Integrated Behavioral Health Program. She successfully guided the implementation of CARF accreditation for all Phoenix House Programs in the California region with re- accreditation in 2015. She implemented trauma-informed, gender-specific co-occurring services for adolescents at the Phoenix Academy, which has been named an evidenced based program on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. In 2009 Phoenix House undertook the implementation of electronic health records which she was asked to lead. At the same time, an insurance and pay source expansion initiative was undertaken by Phoenix House which resulted in the design and implementation of short stay protocols and brief strategic interventions. In December 2015 she left Phoenix House to pursue consultation services reflecting the breath of her experience and passion for developing integrated care. She now serves as the Project Manager for the CIBHS, DMC-ODS Forum (www.cibhs.org/dmc-ods- waiver-forum) and supports community based provider organizations with the strategic planning and development of new program designs and DMC-ODS implementation. She is currently a Senior Advisor to California Health Policy Strategies. She is a member of the board of directors of Children and Family Futures, Inc; an appointee on the California Medi-Cal Children’s Advisory Panel; and an Associate Member of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. She has served on the board of the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives and the Judicial Council’s Alternative Court Committee in the past.

Email:[email protected]

Dr. Karen Baylor

Senior Advisor

Dr. Karen Baylor

Senior Advisor

Having previously served as Deputy Director for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders at the California Department of Health Care Services, and Behavioral Health Administrator for San Luis Obispo, Karen is a recognized expert on Medi-Cal Behavioral Health.

Karen Baylor, Ph.D., LMFT is the former Deputy Director for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder at the Department of Health Care Services. During her four and a half years at the Department, she was responsible for the integration of the former Department of Mental Health with the former Alcohol and Drug Programs into the Department of Health Care Services. She was also instrumental in developing and implementing a new service delivery system for substance use disorders and successfully negotiated the special terms and conditions with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.

Prior to her work at the state, Dr. Baylor was the Behavioral Health Administrator for the County of San Luis Obispo for over eight years. She was the president of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (formerly known as the California Mental Health Directors Association) and the Co-chair of the Mental Health Services Act. She is currently a member of the California Behavioral Health Planning Council.

Phone:(805) 305-7107
Email:[email protected]

Uma K. Zykofsky, LCSW

Senior Advisor

Having previously served as Deputy Director for Health Services in Sacramento County and as its Behavioral Health Director.

Uma K. Zykofsky, LCSW

Senior Advisor

Having previously served as Deputy Director for Health Services in Sacramento County and as its Behavioral Health Director, Uma brings a wealth of knowledge to building cross-system mental health and substance use disorder services. She is a recognized expert in Medi-Cal behavioral health.

Uma’s has over 30 years of experience within the public and non-profit sector in the design and delivery of mental health, substance use disorders and housing and homelessness services across California and New York. Most recently, as Sacramento’s Behavioral Health Director for four-and-a-half years, she developed innovative cross-system partnerships to expand and build out the local crisis services continuum including its first mobile teams, expanded crisis residential capacity, mental health urgent care and embedded Emergency Room crisis capability. As its Alcohol and Drug Administrator, Uma led the multisystem stakeholder involvement and County investment and participation in the State of California’s Organized Delivery System (ODS). Her prior work at the County included tenures leading the Adult and Children’s Divisions, Quality Management Manager as well as Clinical and Program Supervisor. Prior to working for the County she worked for five years in the community-based service delivery system. Her clinical and programmatic advocacy and work spans county operated and contracted provider system across all ages.

As a multilingual, multicultural Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with clinical and community engagement skills in Spanish, Hindi and Telugu, she has conducted groups and expert input sessions with a focus on equity in behavioral health. Her program design and advocacy work has focused on cross-system initiatives to develop connected integrated health service delivery systems at the local level with particular focus on the intersection point of health and behavioral health. Ms. Zykofsky holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Swarthmore College and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Hunter College in New York.

She represented Sacramento as a member of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (formerly known as the California Mental Health Directors Association) co-chairing its Medi-Cal Policy Committee and its statewide Quality Improvement and Compliance Committees. She has also served as a governing board member of the California Mental Health Authority (CalMHSA). She is currently a member of the California Behavioral Health Planning Council.

Phone:(916) 840-4426
Email:[email protected]

Darren Xanthos

Senior Advisor

Darren is a highly experienced healthcare professional specializing in serving vulnerable populations.

Darren Xanthos

Senior Advisor

Darren is a highly experienced healthcare professional specializing in serving vulnerable populations. With a strong background in program design and implementation, he has played diverse roles supporting payers and provider systems. Notably, he has collaborated with various California County mental health and managed care plans, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards like Medi-Cal managed care and CalAIM requirements.

Since 2017, Darren has been a consultant for the Behavioral Health and Recovery Division of King County in Seattle, WA, contributing to the transformation of mental health and substance use treatment under the state's Medicaid Integrated Managed Care initiative. His expertise extends to working with managed care organizations, developing new programs, integrating regulatory requirements, and overseeing benefit administration and vendor selection strategies. He’s provided consultative executive leadership to provider systems, including serving as COO for an FQHC, and Executive Director for inpatient and outpatient behavioral health at a multi-campus hospital system.

Prior to consulting, Darren served as the director of Business Integration and Program Implementation at CalOptima, a county organized health system in Orange County, California. In this role, he led key initiatives such as the Dual Demonstration Coordinated Care Initiative, the mild to moderate behavioral health benefit implementation, and Medi-Cal expansion benefit development. Darren also developed and implemented the Process Excellence and Business Intelligence functions of the organization.

Throughout his career, Darren has been deeply involved in the Medicaid mental health system, both as a service chief of a county-run clinic and as a leader for various community-based, county contracted organizations under CA Prop 63's Mental Health Services Act. His healthcare career began as an actuarial consultant. Darren is a CA licensed social worker and certified in Rapid Process Improvement.

Phone:(310) 210-7543
Email:[email protected]

Andi Fletcher

Senior Advisor

Andi is a nationally recognized expert in program, policy and fund development.

Andi Fletcher

Senior Advisor

Andi is a nationally recognized expert in program, policy and fund development.

She initiated California’s first comprehensive afterschool legislation and supported the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, leading to close to a billion dollars in annual investments in programs serving a million low-income students in our state. Over the last 24 years, she has designed and directed nine national, statewide and regional initiatives, including the Healthy Behaviors Initiative which has impacted the lives of more than two million of California’s poorest children. She has and worked closely with more than 220 multi-site programs, promoted public/private partnerships resulting in millions of dollars in additional sustainable funding for programs and received numerous awards for her work in improving the lives of children and their families and communities throughout the United States. More than 60,000 people have attended her keynote speeches and workshops and she is the author of several of the most widely-read books and articles in the field, including Lessons in Leadership and Changing Lives, Saving Lives. Andi holds a doctorate in Political Science from UCLA.

Phone:(916) 208-6600
Email:[email protected]

Caroline Davis

Senior Advisor

Caroline Davis is a recognized health policy expert with more than 20 years of experience in health care financing.

Caroline Davis

Senior Advisor

Caroline Davis is a recognized health policy expert with more than 20 years of experience in health care financing, policy development and implementation at the federal, state and local levels, with an emphasis on Medicaid, Medicare, and programs for the uninsured. She has extensive experience with California’s health programs for low-income populations, especially the state’s Medicaid (Medi-Cal) Program. Her background makes her uniquely qualified to help organizations translate complex policy into practical implementation strategies.

Caroline is the founder and president of Davis Health Strategies where she works with health care-related organizations focused on improving care for vulnerable and safety-net populations, including implementation of CalAIM. From 2014-2018, Caroline was the Senior Policy Director for the Local Health Plans of California (LHPC). In this role, she provided leadership and strategic direction to identify policy and advocacy positions for California’s 16 locally-based health plans as well as analysis of the operational impacts of Medi-Cal legislative and regulatory proposals.

Prior to joining LHPC in 2014, Caroline was a Senior Consultant at Health Management Associates (HMA) where she worked with public agencies, health plans and foundations across the U.S. on a range of Medicaid and health-reform related issues. Prior to joining HMA, she founded and served as the Senior Operations Manager for the California-based Center to Promote HealthCare Access – now known as Alluma – and as a Program Officer with the California Health Care Foundation where her work focused on expanding access to health and social services program through technology solutions. Caroline also has served on the senior staff of California’s Medi-Cal program, where she worked on a variety of policy, financing, reimbursement and operational issues. She started her career in Washington, D.C. as the lead Medicare analyst at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Caroline earned her master’s degree in public policy from Duke University and her bachelor’s degree in political science (cum laude) from Carleton College. In her spare time, she frequently finds herself watching her son play baseball in tournaments all over Northern California.

Email:[email protected]

Cathy Senderling-McDonald

Senior Advisor

Cathy Senderling-McDonald is CEO of Catbird Strategies LLC, a consulting firm based in Sacramento.

Cathy Senderling-McDonald

Senior Advisor

Cathy Senderling-McDonald is CEO of Catbird Strategies LLC, a consulting firm based in Sacramento. Catbird Strategies provides a variety of services for its clients, including government affairs representation, strategic planning, data and regulatory analysis, health and human services policy and technology subject matter expertise, and management coaching and support. Prior to founding Catbird Strategies, Cathy served in multiple capacities during a 23-year career with the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) where she worked to promote legislative, budget and policy changes that improve health and human services programs. Prior to joining CWDA, she served as the California Senate Budget Committee consultant for social services programs, as well as a fiscal and policy analyst for the California Legislative Analyst’s Office. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and a master’s degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University. She also holds certificates in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and AI Strategy, both from Cornell University.

Email:[email protected]

Zachary Goldman

Policy & Research Director

Zachary Goldman

Policy & Research Director

Zachary is currently the Economic Policy Advisor for the Oregon Health Authority and a member of the CalHPS team. As a former Senior Policy Specialist at Covered California, Zachary is an expert in many aspects of health economics and health policy, including data analytics.

Zachary joined Covered California in 2013 and helped to implement the state-based health insurance marketplace. Before joining the Covered California team, Zachary worked for a Federally Qualified Health Center in Oregon. His roles at the health center included Clinic Administrator and Project Manager. Zachary obtained his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University and his Masters of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley

Email:[email protected]

Liz Benton

Researcher

Liz Benton

Researcher

Liz completes her Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from California State University, Sacramento Spring 2021. She also holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from William Jessup University. Liz brings together direct service and health policy research experience.

For the last four years, Liz has provided direct mental health service in various community settings throughout the greater Sacramento Region. Liz delivered mental health services funded by the Mental Health Service Act for Medicaid recipients through a community-based organization, Turning Point Community Programs Inc. She assisted individuals transitioning out of jail, psychiatric hospitals and homelessness by providing intensive case management and crisis-oriented intervention. Liz also briefly served as the Mental Health Court Liaison for this community-based agency in Placer County, thus gaining more field-based understanding of the unique challenges facing county courts, jails and health delivery services. More recently, Liz has interned with the City of Sacramento Police Department and Marshall Medical Center in Placerville as she completes her MSW degree. In addition, Liz worked as a research associate for the California Rural Indian Health Board, and as a research associate contracted through University of California, Davis for the Department of State Hospitals.

Phone:(916) 803-3245
Email:[email protected]

Reese Murray

Research Assistant

Reese is a 3rd year undergraduate student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is majoring in Mathematics and hopes to use her degree to help marginalized communities through data analytics.

Reese Murray

Research Assistant

Email:[email protected]

Arun Dixit

Research Assistant

Arun is a 1st year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Political Economy and minoring in Global Public Health.

Arun Dixit

Research Assistant

Arun is a 1st year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Political Economy and minoring in Global Public Health.

His policy interests include researching antitrust measures to reduce monopolization in the healthcare industry, brainstorming strategies to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to underserved populations and addressing information asymmetry among healthcare providers and consumers.

Email:[email protected]

Nethra Dhamodaran

Research Assistant

Nethra is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Political Economy with a minor in Data Science.

Nethra Dhamodaran

Research Assistant

Nethra is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Political Economy with a minor in Data Science. Her policy interests include healthcare affordability and pharmaceutical policy, and she enjoys studying the economics behind healthcare solutions.

Email:[email protected]

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Our Team

David Panush

David Maxwell-Jolly

Jane Ogle

Jeanne Cain

Lance Lang, MD, FAAFP

Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, RN, MPH

Dr. Karen Baylor

Uma K. Zykofsky, LCSW

Darren Xanthos

Andi Fletcher

Caroline Davis

Cathy Senderling-McDonald

Zachary Goldman

Liz Benton

Reese Murray

Arun Dixit

Nethra Dhamodaran

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