Jennie Chin Hansen is the immediate past CEO of the American Geriatrics Society, the largest professional membership organization of gero-clinicians committed to the care of older adults living with care complexity. Prior to this position she completed her role as president of the 38 million member AARP during the negotiations and development of the Affordable Care Act. She currently contributes the areas of dementia, workforce supply, chronic complex care, geriatric emergency departments and health equity.
Her primary career includes nearly 25 years in San Francisco providing integrated, globally financed and comprehensive medical and community- based services for nursing home eligible older persons. Its groundbreaking fully capitated, integrated and coordinated service delivery system became the prototype for the 1997 United States federal law that established the Program of All Inclusive Care to the Elderly (PACE) into the Medicare and Medicaid programs. PACE now operates extensively in California and in 31 other states (out of 50 states).
She has served as a federal commissioner on MedPAC (Medicare policy and payment) reporting to Congress and serves/served recently on several boards related health care and philanthropy (including twelve years on the SCAN Foundation). She also continues to serve on the Geriatrics Measures Advisory Group with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). In January 2021 she completed her formal role as one of the Stakeholders who crafted the first ever California MasterPlan for Aging. She also just completed her role in April 2022 on the Governor’s Commission on Healthy California for All with a goal to extend health care all California residents. Hansen also serves in advisory roles with startup entities. During the last five years she’s been a philanthropy consultant to establish Geriatric Emergency Departments in hospitals in San Francisco with the added focus on dementia.
Previous recognition includes the American Society on Aging’s (ASA) Hall of Fame Award, the National Council on Aging’s (NCOA) Lifetime Achievement Award and named one of the national 50 Influencers in US Aging by Public Broadcasting Station’s(PBS) Next Avenue. In 2019 she was accorded an Audacious Alumni award by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and in July 2021 recorded as one of ASA’s Legacy twelve interviewees. In October 2022, she has appeared in a consolidated one-hour PBS special with the other eleven “Sages in Aging” on national networks.
In addition to being a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing she was accorded the Health Care Leader of 2022 by the Academy. She has received several alumni awards, the 2022 UCSF Medal the University’s highest level of recognition for her societal contributions that reflect the mission of the University of California, San Francisco (September 2022) as well as an honorary doctorate (DNS) from Boston College (BC) in 2008.