SENIOR HEALTH CARE CONSULTANT
Karen Kimsey was appointed by Governor Northam in September 2019 and served as the Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) until May 2022. During her tenure, Ms. Kimsey oversaw Virginia’s Medicaid and CHIP programs, including the provision of acute, behavioral health and long-term services and supports to more than 2.0 million Virginians at an annual cost of $20 billion.
With more than 27 years of public and private sector experience in health care, Ms. Kimsey’s areas of expertise include program development, implementation and evaluation, regulatory oversight, policymaking and leadership development. While Director, Ms. Kimsey led significant internal cultural changes while guiding the agency through COVID. She and her team also successfully implemented a new Medicaid Enterprise System. Prior to this role, Ms. Kimsey served in other executive leadership roles at DMAS, where she operationally led the creation of the Medicaid Expansion benefit, and led the development of numerous initiatives, including Virginia’s managed long-term services and supports benefit, an addiction and treatment benefit, and the redesign of the behavioral health and developmental disabilities systems.
Ms. Kimsey served as the 2021 East Coast Representative of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, received a Governor’s Star Award, and an award from the Virginia Association for Home Care. Ms. Kimsey holds a master’s degree in Social Work and Certificate in Aging Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a bachelor’s degree in social work from James Madison University. She enjoys spending time gardening, practicing yoga, and being with her family.
