Kathleen Shea

Kathleen Shea is a researcher whose work focuses on evaluating and improving Medicaid services for individuals with disabilities, primarily through Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services. Her expertise includes qualitative methods, program evaluation, quality improvement, and technical assistance to states.

Shea is involved in both federal and state home- and community-based services (HCBS) projects. She currently directs a project for the Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) about Medicaid HCBS authorities. She also works on the redesign of Iowa’s 1915(c) waivers in response to findings from a 2022 Mathematica evaluation. Shea supports both the California Medi-Cal and non-Medi-Cal HCBS Gap Analyses, as well as Mathematica’s Integrated Care Resource Center project. She also led development of tip sheets for states about the use of exclusively aligned enrollment in dual eligible special needs plans to promote integration of Medicare and Medicaid benefits for dually eligible individuals.

Before joining Mathematica in 2021, Shea held senior research positions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research and Drexel University’s Autism Institute. She holds a M.S. in social policy from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.