Andy Elkins

Senior Consultant

Health Management Associates

Raleigh, NC

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Andy Elkins is a diligent healthcare professional specializing in project management, qualitative research and health policy operations. He has experience working in the Individual and Small Business Health Operations Program (SHOP) health insurance markets.

Prior to joining Health Management Associates, Andy was a research analyst with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Health Payer Innovation, Transformation and Support division. Andy supported qualified health plan (QHP) certification operations for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). He managed multiple teams for the CCIIO, developing project management tools and overseeing deliverables production. He worked primarily with states seeking to update their essential health benefit (EHB) benchmark plans, managed Health Insurance Exchange Public Use File and QHP Landscape File data and engaged stakeholders on Standardized Plan Options’ display and choice architecture on healthcare.gov.

A skilled communicator, Andy contributed to AIR’s contract proposals by serving as a proposal coordinator and drafting technical sections for significant contracts. He also co-edited the externally facing AIR health policy newsletter, disseminating AIR’s research findings and positioning AIR as a thought leader on the current health policy landscape to stakeholders and clients. Andy has experience leading client briefings and presenting top-level findings, orienting audiences to the research methodology and developing messaging strategies to engage relevant stakeholders.

Andy has a background in analytics, serving as a health policy analyst for the National Journal’s Network Science Initiative, now known as Gravity Research, and a qualitative analysis and international research intern for the Duke Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research. With the National Journal, Andy analyzed stakeholders engaged in specific policy areas including drug pricing, value-based payment, excepted benefits, the Military Health System, diabetes prevention and social determinants, Alzheimer’s disease prevention and privacy, and cellular therapy. He developed novel frameworks and methodologies to conduct qualitative research and provide new ways for clients to think about their internal challenges. In these roles, Andy gained technical proficiency in various network mapping and qualitative analysis software.

Andy earned his Master of Science in Public Health, specializing in health policy and management, from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of South Carolina and a project management professional certificate from the Project Management Institute.