MRMIB operates four health insurance programs for the uninsured:

• The Major Risk Medical Insurance Program (MRMIP), California’s high risk pool for medically uninsurable persons.
• The Healthy Families Program (HFP), providing health coverage to children whose families have incomes above Medicaid levels. This is California’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program [SCHIP] which has the highest enrollment in the country.
• The County Health Initiative Matching Program (CHIM) under which counties draw down SCHIP funds to pay for coverage to SCHIP eligible children who have incomes above the state maximum.
• The Access for Infants and Mothers’ Program (AIM) for pregnant women whose income is above Medicaid levels.

In 2007-2008, she participated in Governor Schwarzenegger’s comprehensive health reform effort which located many responsibilities for implementation with MRMIB. In 2004, she led MRMIB’s efforts in assessing the impact of an employer enacted pay or play requirement (ultimately overturned by the voters) on the purchasing pool that MRMIB would have operated under the Act (SB 2).

Ms. Cummings has over thirty years of experience in state government. She served as Chief Deputy Director of MRMIB from November of 2001 until her appointment as Executive Director. Prior to joining MRMIB, she served as a Special Assistant to the Speaker of the California Assembly on health issues.

Ms. Cummings held various positions within the executive and legislative branches prior to joining the Assembly. She served as the Associate Director for Policy at the Department of Health Services, the Chief Consultant to the Assembly Insurance Committee on health insurance issues, Principal Consultant to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee on health issues, and Deputy Director for Administration and Fiscal Integrity of MRMIB.

She participated in the drafting of California’s small group health insurance reform in 1992 and development and implementation of a state-operated purchasing pool for small employers that the Board operated from 1993 to 1999. Also in 1999 she participated in a major reform of managed care.

Memberships and Affiliations.

Member of the Board for the Insuring the Uninsured Project (ITUP)
Steering committee member for the National Academy of State Health Policy
Member of the Capital Center Advisory Board for the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development