Therese L. Hanna - Mississippi

Ms. Hanna is currently Executive Director of the Center for Mississippi Health Policy.  Prior to this position, she served as State Insurance Administrator for eleven years, where she was responsible for managing the State and School Employees’ Life and Health Insurance Plan, the State Agencies’ Workers’ Compensation Trust, and the insurance component of Mississippi’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).  During this time she was named by The Mississippi Business Journal as one of Mississippi’s Leading Business Women.  Previous experience includes seventeen years with the Mississippi State Department of Health where she served as a health planner and analyst and as Director of Policy and Planning.    Ms. Hanna is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rhodes College with a Bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology and holds a Master of Health Sciences degree in health care administration from Mississippi College.

The Center for Mississippi Health Policy is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides objective information to inform health policy decisions.  The Center’s work involves communicating research, examining health status and health care delivery trends, and analyzing relevant health policy issues affecting Mississippi.  Examples of the Center’s projects include an economic analysis of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, research on state initiatives to address childhood obesity, an analysis of the state’s trauma care system, a review of issues associated with the reauthorization of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a study of options available to Mississippi in establishing a statewide health data system, a detailed examination of children’s health coverage in the state, an assessment of Mississippi’s System of Care for children with serious emotional disorders, a review of all-terrain vehicle safety policy issues, and an analysis of the influence of the federal Farm Bill on nutrition and health.  The Center is also directing a five-year grant project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bower Foundation, in collaboration with three Mississippi universities, to evaluate the impact of the Mississippi Healthy Students Act.