Era of the Child
As part of the Reimagining Medicaid initiative, a panel discussion focused on ways to improve and broaden health insurance coverage for children. Key players included (left to right): Asaf Bitton, Beth McGinty, Ryan Van Ramshorst, Nivedita Mohanty, Mandy Cohen, William Schpero and Sallie Permar.
The Cornell Health Policy Center, Weill Cornell Department of Pediatrics and Ariadne Labs launched the Era of the Child Initiative to convene key leaders in developing and implementing policies to improve children’s healthcare, with a central focus on Medicaid.
About Era of the Child
The Era of the Child Initiative seeks to convene key leaders in pediatric care and financing to develop and implement policies to improve Medicaid coverage for children’s health care. Medicaid remains the most important access point for nearly half of American children, yet recent policy changes could undermine resources states rely on to provide children’s healthcare.
The initiative is led by CHPC co-director Dr. Beth McGinty; Dr. Sallie Permar, Nancy C. Paduano Professor and Chair, Weill Cornell Medicine, Pediatrician-in-Chief, New York Presbyterian Hospital; and Dr. Asaf Bitton, Executive Director, Ariadne Labs; Associate Professor of Medicine and Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Events
The initiative kicked off at a convening in September 2025.
On March 9th, 2026, an in-person convening was held in New York City and included a hybrid panel discussion followed by an invited key-leader strategy session.
Panel: Medicaid Reimagined: Designing a Child-Centered System for the Next Generation
The panel discussion focused on the urgent need to identify strategies that center children’s health policy in national conversations about Medicaid and state-level innovation, highlighting pioneering strategies, bipartisan solutions, and opportunities to transform systems. Panelists included: Dr. Mandy Cohen, Former CDC Director; former North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Ryan Van Ramshorst, Texas Chief Medical Director for Medicaid and CHIP Services, pediatrician; and Dr. Nivedita (Nita) Mohanty, MD, MS, FAAP, Senior VP Child Health Finance and Quality American Academy of Pediatrics. The discussion was moderated by CHPC Associate Director Dr. Will Schpero.
View a summary of the convening
Reimagining Medicaid to Safeguard America’s Children | Newsroom | Weill Cornell Medicine
Other Initiative Resources
NEJM Perspective: Medicaid Cuts and U.S. Children’s Health – Fixing a Broken System
CHPC Research Brief: State Policy Levers to Improve Medicaid Pediatric Provider Payment