Advancing Health Solutions Through People and Partnerships

Priya A. Helweg, MA, is a senior health policy leader with more than twenty-five years of experience advancing federal health policy at the regional and local levels to improve access to care for American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN), older adults, rural communities, multicultural constituents, and traditionally underserved populations. She specializes in stakeholder alignment, cross-cultural community engagement, health policy communication and training, and federal health programs including Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, and tribal relations.

Most recently, Ms. Helweg provided executive leadership in the Region 10 office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), serving as Interim Regional Director and Executive Officer. In this role, she represented the agency's priorities in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and with 272 federally recognized Tribes. She advanced the priorities of the HHS Secretary through intergovernmental relations, community partner development, and stakeholder engagement. Ms. Helweg positioned the office as a nexus for coordination among HHS divisions, Tribal governments, state agencies, local governments, and community stakeholders.

Ms. Helweg joined the Office of the Regional Director after 16 years at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Formerly an External Affairs Specialist for the Office of the Regional Administrator, CMS Region 10, she served as regional outreach lead for the Affordable Care Act and Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicare, opioid and substance use initiatives, multicultural stakeholder engagement, and Indian Health. Her primary responsibilities were to increase awareness of CMS programs. In CMS Central Office she worked AI/AN access to Medicare and Medicaid, tribal consultation policy, culturally appropriate communication and training, and supported the Tribal Technical Advisory Group in the newly formed Tribal Affairs Group. Ms. Helweg moved to the Seattle Regional Office Division of Medicaid and Children's Health Operations in 2007 and joined the CMS Regional Administrator's Office a few years later.

Prior to federal service, Ms. Helweg worked in Washington, DC for The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Morris K. Udall Foundation, and The Smithsonian Institution. She earned a master's degree from the University of British Columbia.