Mary Prentnieks, JD, MPH, BSN
Senior Consultant
Health Management Associates
St. Paul, MN
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Mary Prentnieks is an experienced public programs professional with expertise informed by her legal, clinical, and policy background. A collaborative project manager with a track record of building relationships and driving results, she joins HMA after serving as senior director associate general counsel at Medica Health Plans for several years. She routinely engaged with the state regarding contract negotiations, procurements, and state fair hearings. Ms. Prentnieks also supported enterprise-wide complementary provider network contract negotiations.
She has a breadth of experience in legal and compliance related to Medicaid managed care programs for families and children, dual-eligible programs for individuals with disabilities and older adults, Minnesota’s Basic Health Program (MinnesotaCare), Medicare Advantage (MA) including MA-SNP plans, and Medicare cost plans. Ms. Prentnieks provided legal support to an array of areas, including health services initiatives to improve outcomes, care coordination, Medicaid mental health parity, risk adjustment, state and federal privacy and security regulatory requirements, and fraud and abuse. For two years while at Medica, she served as an adjunct professor teaching privacy law at a Twin Cities law school.
She began her legal and public policy work as director of legal affairs at the Minnesota Medical Association where she focused on healthcare ethical issues and regulatory requirements, and healthcare reform and accompanying legislative changes. This experience led Ms. Prentnieks to enter and graduate from the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a master’s degree. While there, she focused on healthcare financing to better address issues related to healthcare reform and the promotion of managed care. She worked at BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota after she graduated for several years as senior policy counsel and director of federal relations.
Ms. Prentnieks started her healthcare career working as a critical care nurse and head nurse of a medical unit in the Chicago area, and as a Kaiser-Permanente patient care supervisor of an outpatient facility and regional patient education coordinator in the Washington, DC area.
She earned her law degree from Georgetown Law School, and her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Loyola University of Chicago.