Acting Healthcare Advocate Kathleen Holt
Kathy has experience in health insurance, health delivery systems, health law, and patient-consumer advocacy. She began her career working with Cigna insurance company in Bloomfield, CT where she developed insurance claim process improvement strategies. After earning a Master of Business Administration in healthcare management from the University of Connecticut, she helped protect patient rights and expand patient services as a hospital administrator, first at New Britain Memorial Hospital and then at Northwest Hospital in Seattle, Washington.
Upon obtaining her law degree from Seattle University School of Law, Kathy became a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Seattle. Following the birth of her second child who was born with significant disabilities, Holt founded a Seattle-area law practice to advocate for the needs of older people and people who have disabilities. She led this practice until she returned to CT in 2014 as the associate director and attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, where she helped Medicare beneficiaries and represented patient voices in federal and state policy conversations prior to arriving at the Office of the Healthcare Advocate. In addition to her professional work, Kathy volunteers her time with several organizations, including as a member of the board of directors for Team Gleason, an organization that advocates for people living with ALS; as a commissioner for the Mansfield Housing Authority, which assists low and moderate-income families with safe, decent, and affordable housing; and as a public member of the Connecticut Teacher’s Retirement Board.
