SAN ANTONIO (Jan. 9, 2014) – Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, professor of nursing at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, has been appointed to a second three-year term as a commissioner for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC).
Dr. Martinez Rogers was an inaugural member of MACPAC, which is a non-partisan, federal agency charged with providing policy and data analysis to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, an acronym for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The commissioners make recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on a wide range of issues affecting these programs.
The Commission conducts independent analysis and research on topics including eligibility, enrollment and benefits; payment; access to care; quality of care; interactions of Medicaid and CHIP with Medicare and the health care system generally; and data development to support policy analysis and program accountability.
Appointed by the U.S. Comptroller General, the 17 Commissioners have diverse backgrounds, offer broad perspectives on Medicaid and CHIP, and represent different regions across the United States.
Diane Rowland, chair of the MACPAC, said, “We are pleased that Dr. Martinez Rogers will continue to serve on the Commission at this critical time for Medicaid and health care reform. Her considerable expertise and experience working with underserved populations is invaluable in the Commission’s deliberations.”
Dr. Martinez Rogers has served on the faculty of the UT Health Science Center since 1996. She specializes in cultural diversity, mentoring, recruitment and retention of nursing students through her research and teaching.
She has initiated a number of programs, including a support group for women transitioning from prison back into society and the Martinez Street Women’s Center, a non-profit organization designed to provide support and educational services to women and teenage girls.
She is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and is the former president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. She received a master of science in psychiatric nursing from the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and her doctorate in cultural foundations from The University of Texas at Austin.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving National Institutes of Health funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $765 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.