| James Koppel
Jim Koppel is the director of the Children's Defense FundMinnesota, a statewide, non-profit child advocacy organization located in St. Paul. He has been at the CDFMinnesota since January 1996. CDF Minnesota is a state office of the Children's Defense Fund whose mission is to Leave No Child Behind. and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
In his time at CDF Minnesota, legislative and administrative accomplishments include expanding eligibility for children in Medical Assistance, lowering the cost of MinnesotaCare for children, shortening the state application form for these programs, improved outreach strategies to enroll more families and making the application available in different languages. MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance now provide health care coverage for 25% of the children in Minnesota
Prior to joining CDF Minnesota, Koppel was the vice president of policy for the Minnesota Hospital and Healthcare Partnership for 10 years. During his tenure, he took a two-year leave of absence to serve as the executive director of the Minnesota Health Care Access Commission. This commission developed the initial plan for universal health care coverage, which eventually led to the passage of MinnesotaCare in 1992.
Koppel holds a B.S. from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, and a Master's in Social Work from Howard University in Washington, D.C.
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