Jacey Cooper

Senior Advisor

Health Management Associates

Sacramento, CA

As a senior advisor to Health Management Associates, Jacey Cooper leverages her 20 years of federal, state and delivery system experience as a healthcare policy and operations leader to help plans, providers, and public agencies navigate Medicaid complexities to achieve meaningful impacts on beneficiaries’ outcomes. She has been at the forefront of innovative and transformational initiatives throughout her career.

Jacey most recently served as director of the State Demonstrations Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she oversaw the center’s efforts to support state-led innovations in Medicaid and CHIP demonstrations. She acted as the CMS lead for emerging policies requiring Section 1115 authority, provided technical assistance to states and issued federal guidance on 1115 budget neutrality.

Before joining CMS, Jacey held multiple roles with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), most recently serving as California’s state Medicaid director and chief deputy director. During her tenure, she was instrumental in designing and launching the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program, a transformation initiative aimed at reforms in population health, behavioral health, managed care, duals integration, social drivers of health, and reentry. Through this work, she played a key role in securing CMS’ approval for the state’s Justice-Involved 1115 waiver, the first in the nation to extend Medicaid coverage for select services 90 days prior to an individual’s release.

Prior to her work in California Medicaid, Jacey served as an executive at Kern Medical Center (KMC), leading the public hospital’s transition from a county department to an independent hospital authority. She launched the county’s self-funded health plan and led a $122 million Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) initiative.

Jacey has prioritized addressing health disparities, improving access and coverage, and advancing innovative service delivery models throughout her career. With DHCS, she led billions in investment to expand coverage, benefits, and payment reform initiatives. At KMC, she managed their indigent care program and advanced care coordination through incentive programs, integrated behavioral health, primary care models, and geriatric education. 

Jacey earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern California. She is a recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academy for State Health Policy’s Medicaid Innovation award for promising or emerging initiatives and was a Modern Healthcare “Up & Comers” honoree in 2016.