The Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) is one of the largest departments in state government, overseeing 17 state agencies and employing more than 23,000 employees. EOHHS works to ensure the delivery of high-quality, comprehensive, convenient and effective health care that is integrated to enable all residents of the state to be healthy and independent.

The primary mission of the Division of Insurance is to monitor the solvency of its licensees in order to promote a healthy, responsive and willing marketplace for consumers who purchase insurance products.

The Executive Office of Elder Affairs is responsible for the development and management of comprehensive community-based programs that help to ensure the dignity and independence of elderly people. Elder Affairs provides state- and federally funded services to frail elders, the disabled and family caregivers.

AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that advocates for people ages 50 and older. Since 1958, AARP has lobbied for senior issues, including the passage of Medicare in 1965. AARP offers support from staffed offices in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Medicare Advocacy Project (MAP) operates from legal aid offices across the Commonwealth, assisting elders and people with disabilities in obtaining the Medicare and Medicare-related health insurance coverage to which they are entitled. It is the primary source of Medicare beneficiary expertise in Massachusetts.

Councils for Aging (COAs) are the community focal point for social and support services to elders, families and caregivers in 349 cities and towns in Massachusetts. These municipal agencies develop priorities, serve as advocates, and offer opportunities to access programs, services and activities that directly benefit more than 540,000 elders, families and caregivers annually.

The Massachusetts Senior Care Association represents a diverse set of organizations that deliver a broad spectrum of services to meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Mass Senior Care’s mission is to improve the quality and delivery of long-term care services in Massachusetts through research, education and advocacy.

Long-term care ombudsmen are advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They resolve complaints and educate seniors and long-term care providers about their rights and good care practices. They also provide information to the public on nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services, residents' rights, and legislative and policy issues. In 1978, an amendment to the federal Older Americans Act required every state to have an ombudsman program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long-term care system. The ombudsman program is administered by the Administration on Aging (AoA).

Serving Health Information Needs of Elders (SHINE), part of a national program called the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) in many other states, offers counseling and assistance to people with Medicare and to their families. Coordinators provide counseling on Medicare benefits, Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D), Social Security, Medicaid and veterans' benefits. SHIP, formerly the Information, Counseling and Assistance (ICA) grants program, was created under section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. This act authorized the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make grants to states for health advisory services programs for people with Medicare.

The Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) were established under the Older Americans Act (OAA) Comprehensive Services Amendments in 1973 to respond to the needs of Americans 60 and older in every local community. The amendments added a new Title V, which authorized grants to local community agencies in every state. The AAAs provide a range of options that allow older adults to choose the home- and community-based services and living arrangements that suit them best.

Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) are private, mostly not-for-profit organizations, staffed by doctors and other health care professionals, who are trained to review medical care, to help beneficiaries with complaints about the quality of care and to implement improvements in the quality of care available throughout the spectrum of care. QIOs are required under Sections 1152-1154 of the Social Security Act. Masspro is the Quality Improvement Organization for Massachusetts.

The Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program helps Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect and prevent health care fraud. The goal is to protect older people and to preserve the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The federal program was created in 1996 by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and amended in 2006 by Titles II and IV of the Older Americans Act.

Daniel P. Moen became president and CEO of the Sisters of Providence Health System in January 2004. He previously served as president and CEO of Heywood Hospital in Gardner, Mass., and has more than 28 years of senior leadership experience in Massachusetts health care. He was the chair of the Massachusetts Hospital Association from 2006 to 2007, and he holds a master’s degree in health administration from Clark University/University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Before serving as president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care Inc., John O’Brien was CEO at The Cambridge Hospital and the commissioner of health for the City of Cambridge. He also previously served as the chairman for the boards of the National Association of Public Hospitals and the Massachusetts Hospital Association. He earned his master’s degree in health care administration from Boston University.

Peter L. Slavin has served as president of Massachusetts General Hospital since 2003. He was previously chairman and CEO of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization. Earlier in his career, he was also the president of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., and senior vice president and CEO at Mass General. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School. He currently teaches internal medicine and health care management at Harvard Medical School as a professor of health care policy.

Before she joined Boston Medical Center, Kate Walsh served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Earlier in her career, she was the chief operating officer at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. She is a member of the Board of Visitors for Northeastern University’s School of Business and is on the Emmanuel College Board of Trustees.

In addition to serving as the CEO of the University of Michigan (U-M) Health System, Ora H. Pescovitz is also the University of Michigan’s first female executive vice president for medical affairs. She is a nationally recognized pediatric endocrinologist whose work has focused on the physiologic and molecular mechanisms behind growth and puberty disorders and the development of therapies for these conditions. Before joining U-M, she served as executive associate dean for research affairs at Indiana University School of Medicine, as president and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and as interim vice president for research administration at Indiana University.

Elizabeth G. Nabel has served as the president of Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals since January 2010. Before obtaining her current position, she was the director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health. As NHLBI director, she launched new scientific programs in genetics and genomics, stem and progenitor cell biology, translational research and global health. She attended Weill Cornell Medical College.

Kevin Tabb has served as president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center since September 2011. Previously, he worked for Stanford Hospital and Clinics, first as the chief quality and medical information officer and then as an associate professor of medicine. He also served as president of clinical data services for GE Healthcare. He earned his medical degree from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Before he became president and CEO of Lahey Clinic in November 2010, Howard R. Grant served as the executive vice president and chief medical officer responsible for operations and budgets for Geisinger Health System. He was also the chief medical officer, senior associate dean for clinical affairs and executive vice president for hospital operations at Temple University Health System in Philadelphia. He holds medical and law degrees from The George Washington University.

Before he became president and CEO of Baystate Health, Mark R. Tolosky served as chair of the Massachusetts Hospital Association from 2003 to 2004 and was named Massachusetts Health Care Executive of the Year in 2004. He earned his master’s degree in hospital administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore.

The Joint Committee on Elder Affairs considers all matters concerning the elderly, handicapped elders, nursing facilities, prescription drugs, reverse mortgages, senior pharmacy and such other matters as they are referred.

The Joint Committee on Public Health considers matters concerning the public health of the state’s residents and such other matters as they are referred.

The Joint Committee on Health Care Financing considers all matters relating to the direct funding of health care programs and any other Medicaid or public health assistance matters, fiscal matters relating to health care policy, Medicaid, MassHealth, the Uncompensated Care Pool and such other matters as they are referred.