No. 44: Capitol Weekly’s Top 100

44. Peter Lee

Peter Lee is the executive director of Covered California, the landmark entity set up via the federal Affordable Care Act to expand health insurance coverage for people through a competitive market place. About 1.6 million people currently are covered, according to its own figures. Covered California is working the way it’s supposed to and Lee is a survivor, but it hasn’t been easy: Since its inception nearly a decade ago, Covered California has come under near constant criticism from, mostly, Republicans and business interests over the concept of the “individual mandate.” The “individual mandate” penalty, the fine for uninsured people who refused to get coverage,  went into effect for the first time in January. Lee has been executive director for nine years, and before that he served in the Obama administration as ranking Medicare and Medicaid official, and he also worked under former Health Secretary Kathleen Sibelius.

Updated Aug. 12, 2o20