Susan Anderson is a consultant to the Office of the State Treasurer, where she manages and conducts administrative hearings for the State Board of Retirement, which administers retirement and disability benefits for state employees and certain other employees of public entities, including benefits for members of the Judiciary. Previously, Susan was General Counsel of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, a cabinet-level agency that administers a comprehensive system of state- and federally-funded programs and services for elderly and disabled individuals through direct service delivery and contracts with not-for-profit organizations. Significant Elder Affairs programs and activities include elder protective services, the long-term care ombudsman program, home care services, prescription drug insurance, MassHealth long-term care services, and regulation of assisted living residences.
Susan advised the Secretary of Elder Affairs on development and application of statutes, regulations, and policy positions, including preliminary iterations of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, ultimately enacted as Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006. Before joining Elder Affairs, Susan served the Commissioner of Insurance as Senior Counsel and Chief Hearing Officer, directing a group that issued regulatory decisions on statewide insurance rates, including health and workers’ compensation insurance, with amounts in controversy each year exceeding one billion dollars. Previous to her service at the Division of Insurance, Susan was Supervising Attorney at the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts (now, Community Legal Aid, Inc.), and a staff attorney at Southeastern Mass. Legal Assistance Corporation (now, South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc.).
Susan is a member of the Steering Committee of the BBA Delivery of Legal Services Section, the immediate past-chair of the MBA Access to Justice Section Council, and a past-chair of the Health Law Section Council. In 2014 she was honored by the MBA with its Volunteer Service Award. She is a member of the Elder Law Advisory Committee of the Women’s Bar Foundation, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Boston University School of Law, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Susan has been active in alumni affairs, and was a founding director of the Kennedy School New England Alumni Association. Through the Community Action Partners, a joint project of alumni of the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, Susan has advised not-for-profit healthcare and human services organizations on marketing, governance, and strategic planning.
For her fellowship, Susan will work with Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston. MLP’s mission is to equip healthcare and human services teams with a range of support that enables better detection and treatment of health-related social needs impacting individuals and families. By doing so, MLP promotes health equity for consumers and communities. Susan will work with MLP to refine metrics to assess the collateral impacts of upstream, “low dose” provision of legal information, advice and assistance to consumers on the healthcare and social service costs incurred by those consumers. Her measurement work will focus on barriers to housing quality and stability.