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Mission of FHCE
To simplify public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage.
Background of FHCE
Click here to see a video introduction of the Foundation for Health Coverage Education.
Based in San Jose, California, the Foundation for Health Coverage Education is a 501(c)3 public organization that was founded in 2004 by Phil Lebherz’ after he realized that a significant number of Americans were eligible for subsidized or lowcost health coverage programs, but were not enrolled.
Backed by the findings of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association that stated 1/3 of uninsured Americans were eligible for public health coverage and not enrolled and his desire to educate the uninsured, Phil formed FHCE and designed its first resource: the California Health Care Options Matrix, a pamphlet that listed every public and private health coverage option in California, the eligibility parameters, coverage under each program, approximate monthly cost and contact information. He also created the California Uninsured Help Line as a support system for uninsured Californians who wanted to be walked through the process of understanding and enrolling for free and low-cost coverage.
As of March 2006, all states had a Health Care Options Matrix™ and by 2007, the Uninsured Help Line had expanded to a national 24/7 phone service, affording individuals who have questions regarding health coverage the opportunity to discuss their options with an insurance specialist in over 140 languages.
Under the guidance of President Ankeny Minoux since 2006, FHCE has centralized the U.S. health coverage system on www.coverageforall.org. Users can easily take the Health Coverage Eligibility Quiz and instantly learn their free and low-cost health coverage options by answering five basic questions.
Now in 2010, the U.S. Uninsured Help Line and www.coverageforall.org host all of FHCE’s valuable resources and act as a reference for associations, like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Lung Association. Recognized by foundations, like Google, Inc., the Health Coverage Foundation, Inc., and Aetna Foundation, Inc., and media outlets, like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post and ABC, FHCE has been able to live out its mission of providing simplified public and private health coverage eligibility in order to help more people access care.
Director Biography
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About Phil Lebherz, Executive DirectorPhil Lebherz has been working in the field of health insurance benefits for nearly thirty years. He is the Founder and Chairman of LISI, a company that provides sales support services for employee benefits insurance brokers. LISI is one of the largest and most successful companies of its kind. Phil is extremely passionate about making a difference in the U.S. health care system and is committed to helping educate consumers and professionals alike. He has been featured in numerous health care, business, news and consumer publications across the country and has been interviewed on television and radio programs across the state. Phil’s no-nonsense explanation about access to health care, the uninsured, and group health trends make him a much sought-after speaker and consultant. He is well-known for his expertise and innovative thinking, and his sound advice has helped a great number of consumers and businesses achieve success and financial security. Phil is a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Mary’s College of California. He and his wife have four children and reside in the Bay Area. |
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About Ankeny Minoux, PresidentAnkeny Minoux has been the President of FHCE since 2006 and has been instrumental in spearheading FHCE’s transition from a California foundation to an organization with national outreach efforts and partnerships. She has shared FHCE’s mission and services on numerous television and radio talk shows, including the Al Sharpton Show, Good Day Sacramento, as well as on public affairs programs in California, Georgia, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, and Maine, and has been interviewed by CNN Money, Good Housekeeping, Diabetes Self-Management, and various newspapers in Ohio, Connecticut, Virginia and California, among others. Prior to her position at FHCE, Minoux worked at KPMG, LLC in the Audit Group specializing in high tech companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Minoux attended St. Mary’s College of California and received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in Business. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Junior League of San Francisco. Minoux lives with her husband in the Bay Area and participates in many events on behalf of the local chapters of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association. |
Foundation Advisory Board
About Alain Enthoven
Professor Alain Enthoven is the Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management (Emeritus) in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He holds degrees in Economics from Stanford, Oxford and MIT. He has been an Economist with the RAND Corporation, Assistant Secretary of Defense, and President of Litton Medical Products. In 1963, he received the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service from John F. Kennedy. In 1977, while serving as a consultant to the Carter Administration, he designed and proposed Consumer Choice Health Plan, a plan for universal health insurance based on managed competition in the private sector. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is Chairman of Stanford University's Committee on Faculty/Staff Human Resources and a consultant to Kaiser Permanente, the former Chairman of the Health Benefits Advisory Council for CalPERS, the California State employees' medical and hospital care plans. He has been a director of the Jackson Hole Group, PCS, Caresoft Inc., and eBenX, Inc. He was the 1994 winner of the Baxter Prize for Health Services Research and also the 1995 Board of Directors Award, Healthcare Financial Management Association. In 1997, Governor Wilson appointed him Chairman of the California Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force. Commissioned by the State legislature, the Task Force addressed healthcare issues raised by managed care. In 1988, he gave the De Vries Lectures in Rotterdam, called Theory and Practice of Managed Competition in Health Care Finance, which provided the theoretical foundation for the Dutch model of universal health insurance based on managed competition. In 1998-99, he was the Rock Carling Fellow of the Nuffield Trust of London and also Visiting Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He wrote the Rock Carling Lecture In Pursuit of an Improving National Health Service recommending further Introduction of market forces in the National Health Service. He and Laura Tollen recently edited a book called Toward a 21st Century Health System: The Contributions and Promise of Prepaid Group Practice (Jossey Bass, San Francisco, 2004). He is a member of the Research Advisory Board of the Committee for Economic Development (CED) and since 2006 served as project director for a recently published CED report Quality, Affordable Health Care for All: Moving Beyond the Employer-Based Health-Insurance System . November 2007
About David S. Helwig
David S. Helwig retired as President and CEO West Region for WellPoint, Inc. This included Blue Cross of California, and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Colorado and Nevada. When Anthem, Inc. merged with WellPoint Health Networks Inc. in November 2004 and was subsequently renamed WellPoint, Inc., Mr. Helwig was serving as chief executive officer and president of Blue Cross of California, the California operating subsidiary of WellPoint. In this role, he had responsibility for all Blue Cross of California's health and related businesses and operations including large group, small group and individual customer segments, rental networks, network development and contracting. During the 18 years of executive level experience at WellPoint and Blue Cross of CA, Mr. Helwig served as group president of WellPoint's Large Group Division, WellPoint senior vice president and chief actuary, senior vice president of Blue Cross of California's Individual and Small Group Division, senior vice president of consumer services for Blue Cross' CaliforniaCare Health Plans, chief financial officer and treasurer of Blue Cross of California as well as Blue Cross senior vice president and chief actuary. Mr. Helwig began his tenure in April 1988 as vice president and chief actuary for Blue Cross of California. Prior to joining Blue Cross of CA, Mr. Helwig served as chief actuary at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia. He also held actuarial positions at Integon Life Insurance Company in North Carolina and Mutual of Omaha in Nebraska. Mr. Helwig's professional affiliations included being a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries since 1985 and membership in the American Academy of Actuaries since 1981. Educated in Illinois, Mr. Helwig earned a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from North Park University. Mr. Helwig currently serves on the Boards of Mission Springs Conference Center in Scotts Valley, CA, Ventura County Boy Scouts, Covenant Youth of Alaska in Wasilla, AK, the advisory board of Alaska Christian College in Soldotna, AK and served 10 years on the Board of Trustees of North Park University in Chicago, IL.
About Leonard Schaeffer
Leonard Schaeffer is a veteran member of the board of councilors at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and holds the Judge Robert Maclay Widney Chair, a select appointment accorded by the university president and named for one of USC’s founders. Schaeffer lectures and writes widely on health policy issues. Schaeffer led WellPoint from 1992 through 2004 and continued as chairman through 2005. He is currently chairman of Surgical Care Affiliates and a senior adviser to TPG Capital, a private equity firm. In 1986, Schaeffer was recruited as CEO of WellPoint’s predecessor company, Blue Cross of California, which was then near bankruptcy. He managed the turnaround of Blue Cross, founded WellPoint and subsequently completed 17 corporate acquisitions. During his tenure, the company grew in value from $11 million to more than $49 billion. Under Schaeffer’s continued leadership, WellPoint was selected by Fortune as “America’s Most Admired Health Care Company” for six consecutive years and by BusinessWeek as one of the 50 best performing public companies for three consecutive years. Schaeffer was selected by BusinessWeek as one of the “Top 25 Managers of the Year” and by Worth as one of the “50 Best CEOs in America.” Schaeffer also has an extensive public service record that includes appointments as administrator of the federal Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS) from 1978 to 1980; assistant secretary for management and budget of the federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare; director of the Bureau of the Budget for the state of Illinois; chairman of the Illinois Capital Development Board; and deputy director of the Illinois Department of Mental Health. Mr. Schaeffer is a member of the Board of Directors of Amgen, Inc., Allergan, Inc., and Quintiles Transnational Corp. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution, Board of Fellows at Harvard Medical School, the Advisory Boards of the National Institute for Health Care Management and RAND Health, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine. Schaeffer and his wife Pamela recently contributed $1.2 million to fund The Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, which will be a major new research center focused on health policy and economics at the University of Southern California. He is a graduate of Princeton University and was the Regent’s Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley.
About Congressman Tom McClintock
Congressman Tom McClintock was elected in November 2008 to represent the 4th Congressional District in the United States Congress. During 22 years in the California State Legislature, and as a candidate for governor in California’s historic recall election, Tom McClintock has become one of the most recognizable political leaders in California. First elected to the California Assembly at the age of 26, McClintock quickly distinguished himself as an expert in parliamentary procedure and fiscal policy. He served in the Assembly from 1982 to 1992 and again from 1996 to 2000. During these years, he authored California’s current lethal injection death penalty law, spearheaded the campaign to rebate $1.1 billion in tax over-collections to the people of California, and became the driving force in the legislature to abolish the car tax. He has proposed hundreds of specific reforms to streamline state government and reduce state spending. In 2000, McClintock was elected to the California State Senate, where he developed innovative budget solutions such as the Bureaucracy Reduction and Closure Commission and performance-based budgeting, and advocated for restoring California’s public works. From 1992-1994, McClintock served as Director of the Center for the California Taxpayer, a project of the National Tax Limitation Foundation. In 1995, he was named Director of Economic and Regulatory Affairs for the Claremont Institute’s Golden State Center for Policy Studies, a position he held until his return to the Assembly in 1996. In that capacity, he wrote and lectured extensively on state fiscal policy, privatization, bureaucratic reform and governmental streamlining. McClintock’s commentaries on California public policy have appeared in every major newspaper in California and he is a frequent guest on radio and television broadcasts across the nation. Numerous taxpayer associations have honored him for his leadership on state budget issues. Congressman McClintock and his wife, Lori, have two children, Justin and Shannah.
Annual Report
FHCE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The December, 31 year-end annual report provides a description of the significant milestones achieved throughout the year, the current position of FHCE at year end and the foundation’s plan for the upcoming year.
FHCE Statistics
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1,557,459 people have visited our Web site from January 2007 through February 2010.
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74,887 people have called the U.S. Uninsured Help Line™ since the inception of the call center in February 2005 through February 2010.
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2,196,553,798 media impressions by way of the radio and television public service announcements, newspapers and magazine articles since the launch of the "Coverage For All" campaign in January 2005 through December 2009.
| * | Please note: Due to the number of public programs being created and/or changed, tools may not include all plans. The tools and services on this website should be used as a starting point for general information. Seek professional advice about specific plans and programs from representatives of those organizations. |