Ms. Gassaway is a passionate health care advocate and is the Vice President of State Government Affairs for CVS Health. CVS Health is a health care innovator which includes CVS Pharmacy, CVS Caremark, and Aetna, as well as other subsidiaries changing the way health care is delivered to help people on their path to better health. In her role at CVS Health, she is responsible for overseeing state affairs in all 50 states and with a variety of political, legislative and regulatory organizations. She frequently testifies at national and state venues regarding health care matters including pharmacy issues, health insurance matters, rural health, and administrative challenges.
Ms. Gassaway has served in a variety of roles to promote health reform and policy. She began her career in 1994 at PacifiCare Health Systems, now a UnitedHealth Care company. At PacifiCare, she was the Director of Regulatory Advocacy for all business lines. She worked for CIGNA Corporation as the Western Region Government Affairs Director. She also served as Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the California Association of Health Plans. In this capacity, she oversaw legal and regulatory issues for 40 full service health plans and Medi-Cal managed care plans in California.
Prior to coming to CVS Health, Ms. Gassaway was Senior Vice President for State Affairs and Policy for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). AHIP is the national trade association representing health insurance providers. During this time, she was responsible for overseeing enactment and implementation efforts for the Affordable Care Act across all 50 states as well as other health insurance and pharmacy issues.
Ms. Gassaway has a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, and a Masters Degree in Health Care Administration (MHA) from California State University, Long Beach. She received a Bachelors Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.