< Back Print Mail Email Full Bio

  • Joel S. Ario

    Managing Director
    Manatt Health Solutions
     jario@manatt.com
    Download Contact (.vcf)

    New York
    Direct: 212.790.4588
    General: 212.790.4500
    Fax: 212.790.4545

    Washington
    Direct: 212.790.4588
    General: 202.585.6500
    Fax: 202.585.6600
    Education

    Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1981.

    Harvard Divinity School, M.Div., cum laude, 1978.

     

    Saint Olaf College, B.A., American Political Experience, 1975.
    Phi Beta Kappa.
    • Profile
    • Representative Matters
    • Honors & Awards
    • Publications
    • Memberships & Activities
    • Speaking Engagements

    Profile

    Joel Ario is a managing director of Manatt Health Solutions, an interdisciplinary policy and business advisory practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. He has over 30 years of experience helping to shape and implement public policy, including more than 15 years devoted to leading health insurance reform efforts at the state and federal government levels. Mr. Ario provides strategic consulting and policy analysis to assist state governments, health plans and foundations in preparing for the implications of healthcare reform, with a particular emphasis on implementing health insurance exchanges.

    Mr. Ario previously served as Director of the Office of Health Insurance Exchanges at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), where he led efforts to implement provisions of President Obama’s healthcare reform initiative. He was the Administration’s point person for standing up health insurance exchanges, a role that required engagement with key stakeholders to develop the regulatory framework for exchanges, including consumer standards, insurer accountability, transparency, state certification and state and federal partnership opportunities.

    Prior to his federal service, Mr. Ario was Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner from 2007 to 2010, with responsibility for overseeing the state’s $85 billion insurance industry. His priorities included health insurance reform and expanding competition, including a comprehensive review of the proposed merger of the state’s two largest health insurers, which resulted in the proposal being withdrawn. From 2000 to 2007 he served as the Oregon Insurance Administrator, with responsibility for overseeing the state’s $16 billion insurance industry and a multifaceted regulatory program that included financial solvency monitoring, market conduct exams, product approval, rate review, consumer education and assistance, and agent investigations.

    Mr. Ario served on the executive committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for a decade and was elected three times to serve as an NAIC officer. He was also President of the National Insurance Producer Registry for two years and Executive Director of the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group for seven years.

    Representative Matters

    Honors & Awards

    CMS Award of Excellence, Center for Medicaid and Children’s Services, September 2011. 

    Excellence in Consumer Advocacy Award, National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Consumer Representatives, October 2010.

    Neil D. Levin Memorial Government Service Award, Israel Bonds, October 2009. 

    Publications

    Coauthor, "In the Wake of the Supreme Court Decision, Many Stakeholders Still Support the Affordable Care Act," Health Affairs, August 2012.

    Coauthor, “Health Reform - Genie is Out of the Bottle,” The Hill, April 2012.

    Memberships & Activities

    Speaking Engagements

    Presenter, "Navigating Rate Regulation Under the ACA," 2012 Blue National Summit, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Orlando, FL, September 11, 2012.

    Presenter, "State of the States: Health Insurance Exchanges in Various States," Health Insurance Exchange Congress, Baltimore, MD, November 9-11, 2011.

    Presenter, “Progress Report on State Exchanges,” Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) executive briefing, San Francisco, CA, November 2011.

    Presenter, “Exchanges Put the Consumer in Charge,” National Patient Advocacy Foundation conference, Washington, DC, November 2011. 

    Presenter, “Exchanges as the Lynchpin of Health Reform,” Harvard Law School forum, Cambridge, MA, November 2011.

    Presenter, “Overview of Exchange Regulations,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) listening sessions in Portland, OR, Denver, CO, and Atlanta, GA, August and September 2011.

    Presenter, “Next Steps for State Exchanges,” National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), San Antonio, TX, August 2011.   

    Keynote Speaker, “Exchanges and Health Care Quality,” Engleberg Center for Health Care Reform, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., July 2011.

    Presenter, “Federal-State Partnerships on Exchanges,” California Exchange Board meeting, Sacramento, CA, June 2011. 

    Presenter, “Federal Perspective on Launching Insurance Exchanges,” AARP Solutions Forum, Capitol Hill, April 2011. 

    Presenter, “Emerging Framework for Exchanges,” American Hospital Association (AHA) executive briefing, Washington, DC, March 2011. 

    Keynote Speaker, “The Role of Agents in Exchanges,” National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) Annual Capitol Conference, Washington, DC, February 2011. 

    Presenter, “Exchange Developments,” Bipartisan Health Policy Retreat sponsored by Alliance for Health Reform and Commonwealth Fund, Capitol Hill, February 2011. 

    Presenter, “Streamlining Eligibility and Enrollment,” National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), Washington, D.C., January 2011. 

    Keynote Speaker, “Exchange Options for Iowa,” State of Iowa stakeholder conference, Des Moines, IA, December 2010. 

    Keynote Speaker, “Overview of Health Insurance Exchanges,” America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) introductory conference on exchanges, Chicago, IL, November 2010. 

    Presenter, “Regulatory Challenges for State-based Exchanges,” National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) national meeting, Orlando, FL, October 2010. 

    Presenter, “State Role with Exchanges,” National Governors Association (NGA) health reform implementation meetings for state officials in Stowe, VT, and Seattle, WA, September 2010.