About ITUP
Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) identifies, assists, and promotes new approaches to expand health care and coverage for California’s uninsured.
Founded in 1996 by Executive Director Lucien Wulsin to advance health reform discussions in California, ITUP finds common ground and establishes connections among health care payers and providers to increase coverage of California’s uninsured.
ITUP conducts research on the uninsured, producing reports and data on health care, insurance coverage, and health reform. ITUP offers technical assistance and consulting services to clinics, counties, health plans, and other interested parties. To assist with implementation of health reform in California, ITUP hosts an annual statewide conference in Sacramento and facilitates nine regional working groups and four statewide issue working groups on topics affecting the state.
ITUP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment, the Blue Shield of California Foundation, and the LA Care Health Plan. Other grantors include the California HealthCare Foundation.
Tangerine Brigham, Director of Healthy San Francisco (Board Chair)
Richard Chambers, President of Molina Healthcare
Lesley Cummings, Former Executive Director of Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board
Howard Kahn, CEO of LA Care Health Plan
Sharon Levine MD, Associate Medical Director of the Permanente Medical Group
James Lott, Sr., Executive VP of the Hospital Association of Southern California (Board Secretary)
Laura Hogan, Consultant (Board Treasurer)
Board of Advisors:
John Arensmeyer, Small Business Majority
Isabel Becerra, Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers
Kim Belshé, First 5 Los Angeles, Covered California
Alex Briscoe, Alameda Health Care Services Agency
Carmela Castellano-Garcia, CA Primary Care Association
Dan Castillo, Health Management Associates
Michael Cousineau, USC Keck School of Medicine
Joel Diringer, Diringer & Associates
Toby Douglas, California Department of Health Care Services
Len Finocchio, California Department of Health Care Services
Susan Fleischman MD, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.
Hector Flores MD, White Memorial Medical Center
Norma Forbes, Fresno Healthy Communities Access Partners
Jean Fraser, San Mateo County Health System
Bradley Gilbert, Inland Empire Health Plan
Sandra Goodwin, California Institute for Mental Health
Scott Hauge, Small Business California
David Hurst, Health Plan of San Joaquin
Kerry Hydash, Family Healthcare Network
Mitchell Katz, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
Shana Alex Lavarreda, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Wendy Lazarus, The Children’s Partnership
Carol Lee, California Medical Association Foundation
Burt Margolin, The Margolin Group
David Maxwell-Jolly, Covered California
Louise McCarthy, Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles
Alan McKay, Central California Alliance for Health
Anne McLeod, California Hospital Association
Kathy Ochoa, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West
Jeffrey Oxendine, UC Berkeley, Center for Public Health Practice
John Ramey, Local Health Plans of California
Mary Rainwater, Consultant
Gary Rotto, San Diego Council of Community Clinics
Sandra Shewry, California HealthCare Foundation
Herrmann Spetzler, Open Door Community Health Centers
Marvin Southard, Los Angeles Department of Mental Health
Micah Weinberg, Bay Area Council
Walter Zelman, Cal State LA Department of Public Health
Lucien Wulsin Jr.
Executive Director and Founder
Lucien is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in programs covering the uninsured and low-income populations. Lucien is involved in efforts throughout the state to develop, discuss, and disseminate practical solutions to cover the uninsured with counties and local initiatives, purchasing pools, commercial health plans, employers, policy makers, hospitals, doctors, and clinics. To highlight these efforts and opportunities, Lucien has developed and distributed extensive written materials, put on annual conferences on “Insuring the Uninsured,” and organized an ongoing series of state and regional workgroups on efforts to cover the uninsured through counties and local initiatives, employers, unions, and health plans. Email Lucien
John Connolly
Associate Director
John is a health policy researcher focused on issues related to the uninsured, Medicaid, and health reform. He develops and leads many of ITUP’s policy research and data analysis activities and is involved in its efforts to develop policy strategies for expanding health insurance coverage. Prior to joining ITUP in 2012, he was a senior policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a research assistant at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Teach for America corps member. John holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in Education from Bank Street College, and a Doctor of Philosophy in health policy from Harvard University. Email John
Daphne Radfar
Chief Operating Officer
Daphne oversees the administrative operations and human resources at ITUP in addition to organizing the annual statewide conference held in Sacramento each February. Ms. Radfar received her undergraduate degree from UCLA in education and business operation. Email Daphne
Kiwon Yoo
Policy Director
As the Policy Director, Kiwon is responsible for monitoring implementation of health care reform in California and reporting on its progress. Kiwon also produces written materials on various aspects of health care, coverage and financing, as well as data reports for the county, region and state level to assist key stakeholders in decision-making and policy analysis. Prior to joining ITUP, she worked as a molecular biology researcher and studied prostate cancer mechanisms. Kiwon received a Master of Public Health from UCLA with an emphasis in epidemiology; she has an undergraduate degree in English & Creative Writing and Chemistry from Dartmouth College. Email Kiwon
Kandis Driscoll
Workgroup Director
Kandis is the Workgroup Director for ITUP. She is responsible for planning and coordinating ITUP’s statewide regional workgroups that bring together a variety of local participants to discuss California’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Kandis also assists with research and communication at ITUP, in addition to delivering presentations about health care reform to community leaders. She received a Bachelor of Science in Natural Science from Loyola Marymount University. Email Kandis
David Yun
Research and Development Director
As the Research and Development Manager, David is responsible for developing grant proposals and managing existing grants by preparing reports and maintaining relations with funders. David also provides research support, as well as evaluation of ITUP’s programs. Prior to joining ITUP, his previous experience includes working as a research associate for the UCLA Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. David received a Master in Public Health from UCLA with an emphasis in epidemiology and a Bachelor of Science degree in General Biology from UCSD. Email David
Sara Watson
Program Manager
Sara manages administrative duties associated with ITUP’s Regional and Issue Workgroups. She assists with conference planning, research, evaluation, and data analysis for ITUP projects and health reports. Ms. Watson received a Bachelor of Science degree in public health from CSULA and is a Certified Health Education Specialist with a focus in health administration and policy. Email Sara
