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)
Lesley Cummings, Former Executive Director of Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (Board Treasurer)
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
Richard Chambers, President of Molina Healthcare
Board of Advisors:
John Arensmeyer, Small Business Majority
Kim Belshé, Public Policy Institute of California, California Health Benefit Exchange
Dr. Amerish Bera MD, UC Davis Medical School
Alex Briscoe, Alameda Health Care Services Agency
Carmela Castellano-Garcia, CA Primary Care Association
Dan Castillo, Children’s Hospitals Orange County Alliance
Michael Cousineau, USC Keck School of Medicine
Joel Diringer, Diringer & Associates
Toby Douglas, 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
Harry Foster, Family Healthcare Network
Jean Fraser, San Mateo County Health System
Bradley Gilbert, Inland Empire Health Plan
Scott Hauge, Small Business California
David Hurst, Health Plan of San Joaquin
Larry Krutchik, Allison & Partners
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, California Health Benefit Exchange
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
Mary Rainwater, Consultant
John Ramey, Local Health Plans of California
Gary Rotto, San Diego Council of Community Clinics
Sergio Sanchez, Service Employees International Union
Andy Schneider, Consultant
Sandra Shewry, California HealthCare Foundation
Herrmann Spetzler, Open Door Community Health Centers
Ralph Van De Moere, MVI Administrators, Inc.
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
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
Mike Sloyan
Director of Development
Mike has primary responsibility for grant writing and grant report preparations, as well as creating and maintaining relations with funders, board members, and community partners. He also assists in research, evaluation, and data analysis at ITUP. Mike’s previous experience was in an HMO setting, planning and evaluating healthcare programs and assisting in the control of large populations suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Mike received a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Southern California majoring in Biostatistics and Epidemiology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Loyola Marymount University. Email Mike
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 in 2010. Email Kandis
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
ABOUT LA HEALTH ACTION
LA Health Action’s staff brings significant expertise and experience to address the constantly evolving landscape of Los Angeles County’s health care system. More information about LAHA can be found at their website.
Neelam Gupta
Director
Neelam brings over 15 years of experience working with nonprofit, collaborative organizations to LA Health Action. She served as the first program manager for the Valley Care Community Consortium, the health and mental health planning body for the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys of Los Angeles County (Service Planning Area 2). In this role, she worked on research and projects to improve the local safety-net health care delivery system with key stakeholders representing diverse disciplines. More recently, she provided fund development and strategic planning services for several health and social service agencies. Neelam received dual Masters degrees from UCLA in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management and in Social Welfare with an emphasis in Gerontology where she was awarded the Harry Wasserman Prize for Community Service. Email Neelam
Veronika Kiselev
Program Assistant
Veronika has a passion working for health care policy reform and advocacy. Her past research on HIV/AIDS and interest in global health landed her an internship with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011. She plans to return to school to earn a Masters Degree in Public Health and Public Policy and continue pursuing her goal of working to cover the uninsured in the United States. Veronika recently acquired a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Public Health and Political Science with a focus on International Relations from the University of Washington. Email Veronika
