Leadership

Dr. Michael Chernew is the Leonard D. Schaeffer professor of Health Care Policy in the Department of Health Care Policy (HCP) at Harvard Medical School. He currently directs HCP’s Healthcare Markets and Regulations (HMR) Lab.  He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. Dr. Chernew is currently both the co-editor of the American Journal of Managed Care and an editor of the Journal of Health Economics. He is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors.  In the past, he has served on the editorial boards of Health Services Research, Health Affairs and Medical Care Research and Review, as well as on technical advisory panels for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate the methods that Medicare actuaries use to assess the financial status of Medicare trust funds. He is also the former Vice Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).  Dr. Chernew’s research, which has been widely published and awarded, focuses on different facets of controlling health care spending growth while ensuring that quality of care is maintained or improved.

Filaine Deronnette serves as elected Vice President at Large at 1199SEIU representing over 70,000 healthcare workers across our Commonwealth. She has over 20 years of representational and collective bargaining experience in both the public and private sector. She currently serves on the Massachusetts’ Health Connector Board as appointed by the Attorney General. As co-chair of the 1199SEIU Massachusetts Racial Justice Committee, she leads the educational and organizational programmatic work  for the Massachusetts Division . She currently serves on the leadership team of the Health Equity Compact, a group of Black and Latinx leaders organized to ensure that health equity is a top priority in Massachusetts, building on the heightened awareness and momentum to change racial injustices witnessed in the COVID-19 pandemic. Filaine currently serves as Executive Vice President at the MA AFL-CIO. 

Matthew Gorzkowicz is the Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. He has more than 25 years’ experience in state finance and budgeting in the Commonwealth. He has served as the Associate Vice President for Administration and Finance at the University of Massachusetts President’s Office for more than a decade, where he has had a direct role in setting the University’s long-range administrative and financial goals and managed the development of an annual operating budget of $3.8 billion. Prior to UMass, Secretary Gorzkowicz worked in the Massachusetts Senate, the Department of Mental Health, the School Building Authority, and the Executive Office for Administration and Finance under Governor Deval Patrick, where he served as Assistant Secretary for Budget and then Undersecretary. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and lives in Winthrop, MA with his wife and two children. 

Eric Gulko brings more than 25 years of experience as a leader in the employee benefits industry. He is the founder and president of Innovo Benefits Group, a benefits brokerage firm and human resources company servicing the small and mid-size employer market. Additionally, Eric is a licensed Massachusetts attorney and a former professor in the Massachusetts state college system — establishing himself as a respected leader and spokesperson for the industry. He has authored articles and has been quoted in several publications, and has actively participated in national and local discussions on healthcare policy and compliance matters — including with the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other federal and state agencies. 

Eric holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Boston College School of Law and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University. He serves on several boards, including the National Association of Benefits & Insurance Professionals – MA, the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, and the Advisory Council for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. 

Robyn is currently a Partner at Boston Benefit Partners, an Alera Group company, an employee benefits consulting firm in Boston, MA.

Robyn is a lifelong learner with a passion for health policy and politics. She has a PhD in Public Affairs and a Master of Public Administration with a Health Policy specialization from Northeastern University. She uses this education and training to the benefit of all BBP clients and previously to students at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), where she served as an adjunct faculty member. She taught Health Policy for many years and has served as thesis advisor for students. Robyn has co-authored a book chapter and journal articles with colleagues and students at MCPHS.

Prior to joining BBP in 2009, she worked at Delta Dental of Massachusetts, where she was highlighted in their 2007 annual report as both an “innovator and an implementer who has championed the delivery of breakthrough oral health services to plan members and the community at large.” From 1999-2002, Robyn served as the Assistant Director of Budget for the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), the organization responsible for the procurement and management of the benefit programs for the state’s employees and retirees. At the GIC, she became skilled at policy analysis, budgeting, and the procurement and management of benefit plans and programs.

Robyn is a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) and served as the Assistant Dean of the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienist early in her career. She brings her vast knowledge in the oral health arena and her consensus building skills to her clients at BBP and to the coalitions in which she participates. She serves on the steering committee of the Oral Health Advocacy Task Force (OHAT) and on the board of the Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Coalition (BOHMAC). She also currently serves on the board of the Medicaid/Medicare/CHIP Services Dental Association (MSDA).

In her free time, Robyn escapes to Cape Cod to refuel and enjoy her wonderful extended family and friends.