Sherry Glied Named Assistant Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

Sherry A. Glied, PhD, professor of Health Policy and Management and former chair of that Department, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In her new role, Dr. Glied will serve as the Secretary’s principal policy advisor with responsibility for policy coordination, implementation planning, and the evaluation of the many programs under the HHS umbrella. 

For the past 20 years, Dr. Glied has been a healthcare economist, studying the functioning of the United States healthcare system, and particularly its impact on vulnerable populations.

"Sherry Glied brings extensive experience in a number of health policy fields, notably health care financing and mental health policy research." said Secretary Sebelius.  "She is one of the most-respected health policy experts in the country and will play a critical role in policy development at HHS."

A History of Service to the Country's Healthcare System

Dr. Glied, an elected member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, has particular expertise in modeling the effects of healthcare policy changes, and has long served as a consultant, both formally and informally, to the Congressional Budget Office’s healthcare team.  From 1992 to1993, she was a senior economist for healthcare and labor market policy to the President's Council of Economic Advisers, under both President Bush and President Clinton. 

Dr. Glied has studied the U.S. employer-based health insurance system, the characteristics of uninsured Americans.  Her work in mental health policy, the health of children, and in addressing the problems of the uninsured has also provided her with a solid background in social welfare policy, another important component of the work of the Assistant Secretary. 

“This is an extraordinary opportunity at a critical time to bring analysis and research to bear across the President and Secretary’s broad agenda,” said Dr. Glied.  “I am delighted to join with my colleagues in HHS and throughout the Administration who are working closely with Congressional leaders to bring costs under control, and reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and I look forward to providing support to the planning and evaluation of the many areas throughout the Department.”

“While her colleagues here at Columbia’s Mailman School will miss Professor Glied’s important presence, we are delighted by her appointment to this position, which is so critically important to our nation’s policies for the public's health,” says Linda P. Fried, Dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.