[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 29, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF KAREN IGNAGNI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 29, 2015

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Karen Ignagni for her 
more than two decades of leadership as President and CEO of America's 
Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and to wish her every success in her new 
position as President and CEO of EmblemHealth.
  Karen Ignagni served with great distinction at AHIP. Her intellect, 
broad policy knowledge and experience helped shape some of the most 
consequential national health policies for our country, including the 
Affordable Care Act. Her ability to see the benefits the Act would 
bring to insurers and consumers was extraordinarily important and 
contributed to the successes now being realized by millions of 
Americans.
  Jay Gellert, the highly regarded President and CEO of Health Net 
praised Karen, saying that
  ``She was the face of the industry when it was attacked. Without 
compromising her beliefs, she handled all of that with integrity and 
dignity, and I think that was because from the start she was committed 
to the end point.'' He opined that after all she had done to frame the 
Affordable Care Act's regulatory infrastructure, she probably took on 
the challenges of leading EmblemHealth as a way to ``play it out on the 
ground.''
  Karen Ignagni, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, is a graduate of 
Providence College and earned her MBA at Loyola College. Prior to her 
work at AHIP, she served as Director of the AFL-CIO's Department of 
Employee Benefits, and worked for the U.S. Senate Labor and Human 
Resources Committee, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services, and in the office of Senator Claiborne Pell. She has written 
about health policy issues and has received many honors for her 
leadership, including the Second Century Award for Excellence in Health 
Care.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in 
paying tribute to Karen Ignagni and wishing her every success in her 
leadership of EmblemHealth. We are a stronger, better country because 
of Karen Ignagni and her distinguished work and I'm privileged to have 
worked with her and call her my friend.

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