USAID’s Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project hosted an hour-long webinar on Wednesday, April 5^th, on expanding health coverage to informal workers. The webinar presented recent work on efforts to expand health coverage for informal workers in LMICs. In the webinar, the International Labor Organization’s Dr. Xenia Scheil-Adlung (Senior Health Policy Coordinator, Social Protection Department), Oxfam’s Anna Marriott (Public Services Policy Manager), and HFG’s Sharon Nakhimovsky (Senior Analyst), and Dr. Laurel Hatt (Health Financing Lead) presented their work with LMIC stakeholders and global researchers, implementers, and donors who are driving the UHC agenda.

Resources:

• Presentation Slides →
• Related Report: Expanding Coverage to Informal Workers: A Study of EPCMD Countries’ Efforts to Date →
• Webinar Recording:

Dr. Xenia Scheil-Adlung, Senior Health Policy Coordinator, Social Protection Department, International Labor Organization

Dr. Scheil-Adlung has a long career and extensive expertise in the ILO where she is currently the Health Policy Coordinator in the Social Protection Department. She focuses on global health policies, particularly health financing and coverage through social protection. Key areas of her work concern UHC, equity and labour market issues of health workers. Ms. Scheil-Adlung is member in various International Boards, Scientific Committees and most recently contributed to the work of the High-Level UN Commission on Health Sector employment and economic growth led by the UN Secretary General.  Prior to her engagement in the ILO, she worked with the Federal Government of Germany where she served as Head of Division and Political Advisor in the Ministries of Health and Social Affairs concentrating on health and social protection policies. Ms. Scheil-Adlung also lectured at various universities in Germany and Italy. She studied at the Universities of Munich and Berlin, Germany, where she received her PhD in Economics and a Master in Political Science.

Anna Marriott, Public Services Policy Manager, Oxfam

Anna Marriott is Public Services Policy Manager for Oxfam and leads on health policy for Oxfam’s Even it Up! campaign. Anna is the author of several reports on both the financing and delivery of health care as well as a frequent blogger on Oxfam’s Global Health Check- a blog that seeks to challenge the debate on health care financing and delivery. Prior to working for Oxfam Anna studied and researched in South Africa on social protection and social policy and worked for a range of UN agencies as well as the UK’s DFID.

Sharon Nakhimovsky, Senior Analyst, USAID HFG Project

Sharon Nakhimovsky is a senior analyst, health finance, on the HFG project. Ms. Nakhimovsky has contributed to multiple technical reports on UHC topics including expanding coverage for informal workers, use of evidence in health benefit package design, domestic innovative financing for health, and monitoring systems for UHC. Ms. Nakhimovsky also supports evaluation, costing, and health accounts exercises. She has seven years of experience in international economics research and a master’s degree in China studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Previously, Ms. Nakhimovsky supported a partnership for capacity building of China’s provincial level leadership in policies and strategies for climate change mitigation.

Dr. Laurel Hatt, Health Financing Lead, USAID HFG Project 

She provides strategic technical guidance and quality oversight on the project’s health financing activities, helping to achieve the project’s vision of mobilizing domestic resources for health, improving financial protection, and increasing efficiency in resource allocation. She also oversees the project’s Indonesia portfolio. Dr. Hatt brings more than 15 years of experience in evaluating and implementing health financing reforms that increase access to health services, including insurance (Ghana, Nicaragua), voucher programs (Bangladesh), and user fee exemptions (Mali).