Our Stories

James is Vice President of Technology Solutions at Sellers Dorsey, where he draws on 20 years of experience leading operations, digital transformation, and strategic initiatives across healthcare and financial services. He joined the firm following its acquisition of DignifiHealth, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. In that role, he developed and managed all administrative and product delivery activities, along with go-to-market sales, helping scale DignifiHealth’s technology platform to increase value-based care performance for providers across a national footprint.

Joe brings over 25 years of experience across the healthcare continuum, encompassing health plan and provider operations in Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and commercial markets. He is widely recognized for his expertise in value-based care transformation, contract strategy, and quality performance improvement.

Brittany is a new member of the Sellers Dorsey Child and Family Well-Being team, having previously served as the Firm’s Associate Director for Government Relations. She is an experienced policy professional who has worked nationwide, gaining a national perspective on the diverse policy landscape of health and human services. Brittany is passionate about promoting family stability and child welfare. She has lived experience in kinship care and adoption, and we are excited for her to bring that passion and experience to support our child and family well-being clients.

We sat down with Sellers Dorsey Managing Director and 3X former hospital CEO, Joe Rafferty, to discuss his 20+ years in healthcare, his experience working as a member of the Sellers Dorsey team, and his thoughts about the future of Medicaid and the healthcare system.

With more than 20 years of healthcare experience, Sellers Dorsey CEO Kevin Seabaugh has acquired a wide range of insights with a unique career journey. Along the way, he has been a leader and innovator, bringing new technologies and solutions to the market that serve employers, providers, and health plans. As CEO, Kevin leads the Firm’s efforts to enhance impact for healthcare systems across the country. We sat down with Kevin to discuss his career and his insights into the ever-changing healthcare landscape.

At Sellers Dorsey, we believe that access to quality healthcare is fundamental to helping people live their fullest, healthiest lives. In this engaging Q&A, Senior Vice President of Talent Management, Charity Hughes, explores the meaning behind our mission to improve quality, equity, and access in the Medicaid program. Discover how our mission helps continue to drive our impact on healthcare for vulnerable populations.

Sellers Dorsey Associate Director of Child and Family Well-Being, Rachel Marsh, has dedicated her entire career to serving children and families. Along the way, she’s learned that quality healthcare is key to improving outcomes for this population. Recently, we sat down with Rachel to ask about her career, the lessons she’s learned, and where she sees the biggest opportunities for the future of child and family well-being.

From working as a marriage and family therapist to becoming a healthcare data visualization expert and Tableau Ambassador, Sellers Dorsey Director of Data Analytics and Visualization, Lindsay Betzendahl, has had a transformative career journey. With an eye for design and experience working with various clients across the healthcare landscape, Lindsay’s passion and creativity have helped Sellers Dorsey work toward its mission to improve health and healthcare for vulnerable communities. We sat down with Lindsay to discuss her career, her role at Sellers Dorsey, and the importance of data visualization and analytics in healthcare.

With more than 30 years of experience as an administrator, consultant, and lobbyist in the healthcare field, Sellers Dorsey Assistant Vice President Scott Allocco brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to his work providing strategic advice and consulting to our clients. We sat down with Scott to discuss his perspective on his career, the healthcare landscape, and advancing healthcare quality, equity and access.

With more than 10 years of experience working with Medicaid agencies, providers, and beneficiaries, Sellers Dorsey Vice President, Sharen Ludher, has helped build the Firm’s National Consulting Practice for the last seven years. We recently sat down with Sharen to talk about her professional experience, the work she does to support clients and the Sellers Dorsey team, and the insights she has gained in healthcare throughout her career.

Drawing from his experience as a health plan president, CIO, and Growth Officer, Mike McCabe works with Sellers Dorsey clients to provide strategic guidance in healthcare operations, payment model design, Medicaid network contracting, and more. We recently sat down with Mike to ask about his experience and the work he does to enhance healthcare quality, equity, and access for underserved populations.

Jen is the former Secretary of the Budget for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s administration and completed her tenure in 2021. In this role, she oversaw the Commonwealth budget. Prior to her appointment as Secretary of the Budget, Jen served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the Governor’s Office of the Budget, the Department of Human Services, and the Senate Democratic Appropriations Committee.

Jennifer Duffy joined Sellers Dorsey with a wide breadth of technical and management experience. While working for the State of New Jersey, Jennifer held many senior management positions giving her keen insight into the state’s unique political and public policy landscape. Most recently, Jennifer served on the Governor’s senior staff as Appointments Director responsible for navigating judicial nominees through the legislative process and managing the Governor’s appointments to hundreds of the state’s boards and commissions.

Senior Vice President Gary Jessee served for several years as Managing Director of the firm’s National Medicaid Consulting Practice. Since 2017, he has led the practice’s tremendous growth through business development and overseeing successful client engagements.As a former Medicaid Director, Gary leverages his extensive experience with Medicaid managed care, long-term services and supports, Medicaid market advisory and research, and health care policy to design and implement creative solutions for clients such as state aging and Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations (MCOs), private equity firms, and solutions partners.

Mari Cantwell oversees the firm’s initiatives in California and uses her policy experience to offer clients insight into state financing, Medicaid services and functions, and community programs. She served as the Medicaid Director for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) from 2015 until January 2020. She entered the Director role following her time as the appointed Chief Deputy Director of Health Care Programs, which began in February 2013. Mari was responsible for the overall management of the policy deputy directors over Health Care Delivery Systems, Health Care Financing, and Health Care Benefits and Eligibility. Prior to her appointment, Mari served as the Deputy Director, Health Care Financing, where she was responsible for the development, promotion, and implementation of health care delivery systems to the beneficiaries of the State Medi-Cal program. Before joining DHCS, Mari worked at the California Association of Public Hospitals & Health Systems (CAPH) as the Vice President of Finance Policy for six years.

Karen Brach is the former President and CEO of Meridian Health of Illinois. In that position, Karen led the largest statewide Medicaid Health plan serving over 800,000 members in Children/Families, ACA Adults, Dual Eligible, Long-Term Care, HCBS, and Foster Care programs. As a managed care executive with more than 20 years of experience in Medicaid and Medicare, she oversaw all aspects of plan performance including contract compliance, financial performance, rate adequacy, medical/quality programs, network management, Medicaid policy, and government affairs strategy. In addition, Karen was appointed to the State of Illinois Medicaid Advisory Committee and was the past President of the Illinois Medicaid Health Plan Association.

Mason has extensive experience in government, public policy, and legislative initiatives. As a Senior Consultant, he currently uses his knowledge and experience to guide Sellers Dorsey client initiatives in the areas of Medicaid financing, provider reimbursement, and delivery system reform. Prior to joining Sellers Dorsey, Mason worked for the Pennsylvania state legislature as Chief of Staff for State Representative Brian Sims, advising on political matters, overseeing office operations, and developing and implementing legislative and policy initiatives. Mason joined Sellers Dorsey in 2016, is based in the company’s Philadelphia headquarters, and travels around the country for his work with clients and colleagues.

Brian Dees is a Senior Consultant with significant expertise in health care policy, Medicaid managed care program implementations, home and community-based services, MLTSS, and stakeholder relations. Drawing on years of experience in state government, Brian provides strategic advisory and research services for managed care organizations, Medicaid support vendors, providers, and governmental entities.

Kerstin manages client initiatives from design to delivery and implementation, working with clients and fellow project team members on an array of initiatives in Medicaid financing, Medicaid managed care, business development, and provider policy and reimbursement. She offers expert knowledge with New Jersey’s political landscape having recently served as a Senior Policy Advisor with the State Governor’s Office.

Joe handles client implementations and operational delivery, with work covering Medicaid financing and revenue maximization, Medicaid managed care, business development, provider policy, and reimbursement. As a Consultant, Joe handles ongoing client engagement while driving project objectives. He also takes part in the firm’s Next Generation group, an internal cohort of emerging leaders, experts, and staff from across the organization.

As a Senior Consultant, Regine handles client implementations and operational delivery for the team in the areas of Medicaid financing and revenue maximization, Medicaid managed care, business development, provider policy, and reimbursement. Her recent background in health care policy as well as her work in Human Services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania make her a strong asset to Sellers Dorsey clients and other staff.

John Benz uses his expertise in the areas of Medicaid managed care, health care finance, policy, and operations to provide guidance to clients and engagement teams, with a particular focus on promoting quality, value, and results.

Stella uses her technical, operational, management, and analytical experience to help develop and implement revenue maximization initiatives for Sellers Dorsey clients. She assists with business development and analytics for enhanced physician and hospital payment projects, and these initiatives are designed to capture federal Medicaid matching funds for services to Medicaid eligible patients that are subsidized with state-only dollars.

Matt Onstott brings 20 years of analytics and Medicaid policy expertise to Sellers Dorsey. Matt manages client initiatives from design to delivery and implementation, working with clients and fellow project team members on an array of initiatives in Medicaid financing, Medicaid managed care, business development, and provider policy and reimbursement.

Nancy works as a Vice President, working on many of Sellers Dorsey value-based care payment arrangements, where she uses her leadership and expertise in quality improvement to provide strategic direction to the firm on Medicaid financing projects. As a subject matter expert in quality improvement, she provides guidance to our firm’s clients, working closely with our firm’s quality team, as well as our client-servicing teams. Nancy joined Sellers Dorsey after working for over 35 years at a national quality improvement organization and the Department of Human Services in PA. Nancy uses this quality improvement experience to help develop and implement innovative strategies and creative approaches to Medicaid quality improvement initiatives within managed care delivery systems.

Dave Ulsh is Sellers Dorsey’s first employee and recently celebrated his 19 year anniversary with the firm! He is one of our talented Senior Strategic Advisors and is a Medicaid and policy expert who has assisted numerous states in developing and implementing provider payment related programs.

Janel Myers has been with Sellers Dorsey since 2018. She assists the firm in background research, deliverable preparation, and ensuring timely and effective delivery of client services. Janel currently focuses on value-based care initiatives across quality and metric development, program design and alignment to improving outcomes.

Virginia joined Sellers Dorsey in 2019 as a Senior Strategic Advisor after working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for nearly 15 years. Virginia is an expert in managed care and government programs, providing strategic guidance, operational expertise, and project support to Sellers Dorsey clients.

Janice Fagen is a former Medicaid health plan executive with more than 25 years of managed care leadership experience. Before joining Sellers Dorsey, she was the Vice President of Medicaid Operations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX). Janice excels at providing strategic guidance and subject matter expertise to clients such as managed care organizations, states Medicaid agencies, and solutions partners. As a former health plan executive, Janice is well-versed in managed care, value-based care strategy, business development, stakeholder engagement, and RFP and state procurements.

Sarah Brooks works with clients on engagements primarily in California. She brings nearly 20 years of experience in federal and state health policy matters with expertise in the managed care arena, hospital and health systems, home and community-based services, and special populations programs. Drawing from her experience through her previous roles at the California Department of Health Care Services, California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Indiana Legislative Services Agency, Sarah works on initiatives in Medicaid managed care, Medicaid financing, and provider policy and reimbursement.

Marisa Luera uses her 20+ years of experience and expertise in state and federal Medicaid policy, managed care implementations, and related programs to support clients across the country including her home state of Texas. Her current portfolio includes Medicaid managed care initiatives and procurements, department of aging programs, and stakeholder engagement projects.

With over 15 years of experience designing and implementing programs in support of value-based payment arrangements, care delivery redesign, and provider network-building, Deborah Kozick is leading the Firm’s policy direction on healthcare quality and access and providing strategic guidance for clients on a range of Medicaid financing initiatives to help enhance access to high-quality care. She is an experienced advisor to State Medicaid agencies, managed care organizations, and providers on strategies for formalizing and scaling cross-sector partnerships and implementation practices to address social determinants of health in Medicaid. Prior to joining Sellers Dorsey, Deborah served as Associate Director, Delivery System Reform, at the Center for Health Care Strategies, where she worked to promote innovative Medicaid managed care policy and contracting strategies among providers, health plans, and state Medicaid agencies nationwide. She also supported 38 states in pioneering care delivery and value-based payment models in the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Innovation’s State Innovation Model initiative. Before that role, Deborah was Director at NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest public health care system, where she specialized in Patient-Centered Medical Homes and referrals between community-based providers and the hospital system.

Tanya Boone assists and advises Sellers Dorsey clients by enhancing their Medicaid financing to improve health access and outcomes for the individuals and populations they serve. She works closely with hospital executives and state Medicaid directors to guarantee our program design, from start through implementation, meeting and exceeding expectations for our clients and their communities. Tanya also supervises and mentors many Sellers Dorsey staff members, empowering their success and supporting the ongoing growth of the organization. She brings a wealth of expertise from previous leadership roles at GE Healthcare, Procter & Gamble, and as a Principal with Hilltop Slate, Inc. Prior to these roles, Tanya served as National Deputy Organizing Director—Health Systems Division with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Working in this role for more than 12 years, she used her keen leadership skills to drive intense and successful campaigns across the country.

Karla has a strong background in health care analytics and value-based care. She uses her skills in health care finance, quality, and metric development to serve Sellers Dorsey clients, assisting them in the development of programs focusing on changing the way care is delivered and improving outcomes for their highest risk patients.

Marty Sellers is the Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Sellers Dorsey. For over 20 years, Marty has built a team that continues to have a profound impact on improving health care access and quality for the Medicaid population. Under his leadership, the firm combines a perspective on health care policy, understanding of politics, and experience in the technical aspects of health care delivery and reimbursement to produce results for our clients and the communities they serve. Marty works on a select list of client engagements that focus on state and federal health finance and policy issues. He also focuses his time on expanding the firm’s footprint into new industries and markets through innovation, relationship development, and strategic action. Marty’s career spans over four decades and is based in both the public and private health care sectors. Before cofounding the firm in 2000, Marty built one of the nation’s largest state-based health care government relations firms, specializing in facilitating relationships among health care providers, states, health plans, and the federal government. Prior to his consulting career, he worked in both the legislative and executive branches in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.