Monica VanBuskirk is joining the top tier of leadership with Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s insurance exchange.

As the chief policy and relationships officer, VanBuskirk joins chief executive officer Kevin Patterson, chief financial officer Brian Braun and chief innovation officer Kelly Guthner on the leadership team.

Connect for Health said VanBuskirk’s position was “created to shape the organization’s increased involvement in the health policy arena and to advance the organization’s marketing strategy, external relationship network and policy objectives.”

The exchange was created by the state legislature in 2011 to help Colorado comply with the Affordable Care Act.

“Her experience working on healthcare policy at the state and federal level and bringing business and nonprofit operations together will be essential to our organization as we continue to grow and cultivate long-term partnerships,”  Patterson said in a statement. 

VanBuskirk comes to the exchange from Meapta Inc. and Aspen Labs. Since moving to Denver in 2013, she also has worked for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, Denver Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Colorado Permanente Medical Group.

She worked on the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Innovation Center.

VanBuskirk has a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and an MBA from Duke University, where she focused on health sector management and the economic drivers of health care.

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