Jason Helgerson is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helgerson Solutions Group (HSG), where he champions innovative, solutions-driven approaches to transforming health and social care. Driven by an optimistic vision, Jason leads HSG’s venture capital and private equity advising work and conducts international comparative projects aimed at importing the most effective ideas to global change-makers.

Prior to establishing HSG, Jason earned national recognition as a visionary leader in healthcare and delivery system reform:

• As New York State’s Medicaid Director for over seven years, he managed a program that serves more than 6.6 million residents with an annual budget exceeding $68 billion.
• He spearheaded New York’s successful 1115 Waiver approval, which funneled $8 billion into the state’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. Over five years, DSRIP cultivated local, multi-sector partnerships to restructure healthcare delivery and shifted 80% of Medicaid payments toward value-based models.
• Jason also served as Executive Director of the Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) under Governor Andrew Cuomo, leading efforts to reform Medicaid through a collaborative stakeholder process—resulting in $34 billion in savings over five years. The MRT became a finalist in Harvard Kennedy School’s 2015 Innovation in American Government awards, and Jason was named Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine the same year.

Before his impactful work in New York, Jason served as Wisconsin’s Medicaid Director, where he led the administration of the BadgerCare Plus program, including state initiatives such as the Core Plan, SeniorCare (Pharmacy Plus Waiver), FoodShare, and the Chronic Disease Program. As project sponsor for BadgerCare Plus under Governor Jim Doyle, he enabled access to affordable healthcare for 98% of Wisconsin residents.

Jason’s early career laid the groundwork for his leadership in public policy: he worked as Executive Assistant/Policy Director to the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (2005–2007), and before that, served the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in a similar capacity.

Prior to his roles in Wisconsin state government, Jason worked in municipal leadership in California and Wisconsin: in San José, he was Senior Education Policy Advisor to Mayor Ron Gonzales, guiding policy on children’s issues; earlier, he served within Milwaukee Public Schools as their chief lobbyist and deputy budget director, and also as Education Policy Advisor and senior Budget Office official under Mayor John Norquist.

Affiliations & Honors:

• Clinical Associate Professor, SUNY Albany School of Public Health
• Board Member: Sevita
• Advisory Board Member: MIT Sloan Health Systems Initiative
• Board Member: Aware Recovery Care
• Fellow: Health Innovators, Aspen Institute
• Fellow: United States of Care