SDOH and DE&I: Knowing Your Veteran Population

Kacey is accountable for the management and execution of risk adjustment and quality strategies and improvement for ABCBS Medicare Advantage plans. Prior to joining ABCBS, Kacey has worked for other large national plans in Medicare Advantage Stars and Risk market strategy, provider engagement, and implementation of value-based arrangements. She is well-versed in risk adjustment and stars improvement execution and market plan development for both rural and large urban markets.

Kacey has two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biology and Psychology and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Arkansas. She also has her Certified Professional Coder and Certified Risk Coder designations from AAPC.

Sean has worked at the intersection of managed care and government benefit programs for the past 19 years. He is responsible for BeneLynk’s product development, new business acquisition, and strategic growth initiatives.

Prior to BeneLynk, Sean served as the President of Freedom Disability and Alpha Disability, one of the nation’s largest Social Security Disability and Veterans Advocacy companies. Before that, Sean served as Vice President, Sales for SSC Disability, providing government program benefit services for Managed Care Organizations.

He is recognized by the Social Security Administration as a non-attorney representative (EDPNA) and has personally represented claimants in hearings for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income throughout the country.

Sean is an expert on a wide variety of government benefit programs and has been quoted in Bloomberg, Business Week, and other national publications. He regularly publishes articles on managed care and government benefits for BeneLynk’s blog.

Sean is a graduate of Middlebury College and has a master’s degree from Yale University.

Dr. Shulkin is a national thought leader on veterans’ health and patient-centered care, was appointed by President Donald Trump as the 9th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and served in the role from February 2017 until March 2018. He also served as the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health under President Barack Obama.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second-largest federal government agency, and the Secretary oversees the National Cemetery Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the Veterans Health Administration. Under Secretary Shulkin’s leadership, the Department streamlined the appeals process for veterans seeking disability benefits, made wait times more transparent, and improved mental health services.
Before his time in government, Dr. Shulkin had a long career of health care leadership and management, including at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (now Penn Medicine), as well as Temple University Hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, and the Morristown Medical Center.

Dr. Shulkin is the University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute Distinguished Health Policy Fellow. He is a board-certified internist. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, his internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and a residency and Fellowship in General Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Presbyterian Medical Center. He received advanced training in outcomes research and economics as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.