Panelist/Presenter

 Laura Summers serves as the director of industry research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. She has expertise in economics, public policy, and health care research. Her professional experience includes research for the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In health care, Summers’ research focus is state-level health reform, with a particular focus in Medicaid, behavioral health, public health, as well as health care data, policies, and impacts to the Utah health care sector.

Prior to joining the Institute, Summers was the senior director of state intelligence at Leavitt Partners, where she prepared detailed studies of state-by-state comparative data and analyzed national and state health care trends. Ms. Summers also helped lead health care reform initiatives in states such as Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington State.