STEVE WALSH
Appointed to Massachusetts Health Policy Commission
By DAN TOMASELLO
BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey appointed Town Moderator Steve Walsh to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) on July 25.
According to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission’s website, the HPC is an independent state agency that works to “improve the affordability of health care for all residents of the commonwealth.”
“Through data-driven analysis, actionable policy insights, public accountability and innovative investments, the HPC seeks to improve health care delivery, lower costs and reduce health disparities,” the HPC stated on its website.
Walsh has served as the president/CEO of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association since November 2017.
“He oversees MHA’s work for a more accessible, equitable and coordinated health care system for patients on behalf of their 70-plus hospital and health system members,” stated Healey in a press release. “Mr. Walsh previously served as the executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, where he led innovative change in care delivery, policy and regulation to meet the unique needs of community hospitals across the state. During his time at MHA, Mr. Walsh served as a central coordinator in the health care community’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, championed passage of a historic Medicaid waiver to accelerate health equity and care quality in Massachusetts hospitals and led the system’s efforts to support and advance the healthcare workforce. He is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives. Mr. Walsh is a graduate of Wesleyan University, the New England School of Law and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.”
Walsh, who lives on Mayberry Lane, was elected town moderator during the 2024 Town Election. He has also served on the Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) Board of Water Commissioners since October 2022, and currently serves as the panel’s chair. Walsh served as a state representative for 12 years, where he represented Lynn and Nahant on Beacon Hill. He is also a practicing attorney.
Healey signed a hospital oversight law in 2024 that reshaped the HPC board’s membership. The MPC is tasked with reviewing hospital expansions and mergers, reining in health care-related spending and tracking key industry trends.
The law newly requires the governor to appoint one member with “expertise in representing hospitals or hospital health systems” and another member with “expertise in health care innovation, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology or medical devices.” It also eliminated seats that were previously designated to a primary care physician and a purchaser representing business management positions.
Healey also appointed Codman Square Health Center CEO Sandra Cotterell, Biogen Senior Vice President Christopher Leibman and former Point32Health Chief Financial Officer Umesh Kurpad to the HPC. She also reappointed Beth Israel Leahy Health Executive Vice President/Chief Population Health Officer Deborah Devaux, who chairs the HPC, and 1199 SEIU Massachusetts Division senior policy analyst Jamie Willmuth.
“The Health Policy Commission plays a critical role in making health care more affordable and ensuring the people of Massachusetts receive the highest quality care possible,” stated Healey in the press release. “I’m grateful to the Legislature for their efforts to restructure the HPC to increase its authority to rein in costs and ensure accountability in the health care system. I know these health care leaders who I am appointing (on July 25) have the right expertise to lead this work, make sure Massachusetts remains the best state for health care and deliver for the people of Massachusetts.”
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll agreed.
“Our residents deserve access to high-quality and affordable health care across the state, and I am excited to see these leaders join the HPC to take on a critical role in driving this work,” stated Driscoll in the press release.
Healey has received criticism for appointing Walsh to the HPC because he works as a hospital lobbyist and will be serving on a regulatory agency tasked with overseeing the state’s major health care decisions.
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization President Phil Hillman and Rev. Burns Stanfield, the group’s prior president, wrote a letter to Healey on July 23 arguing that existing conflict of interest law “makes it impermissible for Steve Walsh to serve as a(n) HPC Board member while he remains the MHA president.”
“We think he’s very thoughtful and with great skills, and could even imagine him on the commission someday, but right now, with the position he has, that’s a conflict of interest. We want the integrity of that provision respected,” Stanfield said in an interview with the State House News Service. “It’s not about Steve personally. It’s just about protecting that wall, that concern around conflict of interest.”
Employer Coalition on Health President Eileen McAnneny agreed.
“As a registered lobbyist for the industry, Steve Walsh’s appointment is a blatant conflict of interest and problematic to the employer community,” said McAnneny in an interview with the State House News Service.
Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst also expressed concerns with all of Healey’s HPC appointments.
“We need to have actual premium-paying and taxpaying advocates on that HPC board, as opposed to the industry, whether it’s hospitals or pharma or a union rep being from the health care industry,” said Hurst in an interview with the State House News Service. “It just goes to show that, really, the political bias and priority is toward the industry, the receivers of our premium dollars and our tax dollars, as opposed to the payers.”
Walsh, who was the top House negotiator in 2012 on a landmark cost-containment bill that created the Health Policy Commission when he was a state representative, acknowledged in a disclosure form obtained by the State House News Service that hospitals and provider organizations with “business before the HPC” pay dues to his trade group to advocate on their behalf.
The Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association president/CEO wrote that he would be “internally walled off from MHA matters that are expected to come before the HPC for final approval.” Walsh intends to recuse himself during HPC meetings on any matters involving material change notices, determination of need applications and performance improvement plans submitted by MHA members. He also plans to work with the agency’s general counsel to determine if other steps are necessary to deal with “competitively sensitive information.”
In an interview with the State House News Service, Walsh said he “certainly appreciate(s) and respect(s)” the concerns that some stakeholders raised about his appointment.
“Hopefully, the disclosure that I filed will alleviate some of those concerns,” said Walsh. “I’m privileged to be appointed by the governor to this role as an individual to bring my perspective on health care from all of my various experiences in my career. We have an opportunity right now to shape the future of health care and make a system that’s more affordable and accessible.”
Walsh told the State House News Service that he thinks recusing himself from most matters involving hospital transactions or costs should alleviate concerns, while leaving plenty of other work to tackle. He said that, “All ideas are on the table” as regulators seek to reduce costs and boost access.
“The Health Policy Commission was created to really change the way our system delivers care, so that it works better for patients and for consumers. Most of what the HPC does is not about transactions between hospitals or relationships between providers and payers or other stakeholders,” Walsh said. “It’s about how to build a better system that is in desperate need of reform.”
Healey administration spokesperson Karissa Hand defended Walsh’s appointment because he fulfills a statutory requirement for a member of the HPC’s board to come from a hospital background. She noted that Walsh has pledged to recuse himself from any decisions that could represent a conflict.
“Massachusetts is home to the best hospitals in the world. They are at the heart of our health care system. It’s essential for someone to bring the perspective and expertise of our hospital system as a commissioner to the HPC,” said Hand. “Steve Walsh is uniquely qualified to bring that expertise to the work of the HPC — with his deep understanding of the current challenges facing hospitals, his work with 70 community hospitals across the state, and his experience as a legislator and policymaker.”
Walsh is looking forward to serving on the HPC after he worked to help create the panel.
“At this point in my career, to return to try to perfect it in some way…is really exciting,” Walsh said in an interview with the State House News Service.
—State House News Service reporter Chris Lisinski contributed to this report.