Chris Deacon, Esq.

Experienced consultant for large self-funded healthcare plans, primarily for Taft-Hartley and Public Sector Government Qualified Health Plans, engaging in procurement strategy and methodology, claims administration oversight, and financial and payment integrity over trust assets of the respective health plan.

Organized Health Plan Administrator with outstanding record of financial stewardship and fiduciary commitment to public sector entities; highly skilled at communicating with members of labor and management, as well as staff to provide administrative needs and requirements. Conducted meetings with staff concerning budgets, program management and compliance. Significant achievements include architected and executed on multi-billion dollar procurements that resulted in billions of dollars in savings for the State of NJ over the life of the contracts - including Third Party Administrator requests for proposals, Pharmaceutical Benefit Manager RFP, and Third Party Claim Pre and Post Claim Audit Services.

Former Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant Counsel to Governor's Office; responsible for overseeing Department of Treasury and agencies within Treasury including Division of Purchase and Property as well as Division of Pensions and Benefits. Significant achievements include overseeing deposit of NJ Lottery into the NJ Pensions System as a commercial asset worth over $3B in revenue annually; Appellate wins for Division of Purchase and Property on Open Public Records Act cases and Procurement issues; Overisght of transition of 360,000 retirees from Medicare Supplement to Medicare Advantage Program.

Federal Bankruptcy Law Clerk and Private Practice Attorney in Corporate Restructuring.

Board Member of Catalyst for Payment Reform; Advisory Committee Member for Goldfinch Health; Advisory Committee Member of the Validation Institute; Former Member of NJ State Bar Association; Former Member of Pennsylvania State Bar Association; Former Member of Delaware Bar Association; Rutgers Law School Alumni Association

Hospital Prices: Unsustainable and Unjustifiable; Published March 2022 in coordination with 32BJ Health Fund; https://www.versanconsulting.com/post/32bj-health-fund-white-paper-hospital-prices-unsustainable-and-unjustifiable

The Aftermath of Hughes: Sixth Circuit Tosses Breach of Fiduciary Duty Case; https://www.versanconsulting.com/post/the-aftermath-of-hughes-sixth-circuit-tosses-breach-of-fiduciary-duty-case

State Healthcare Cost Growth Benchmarks: Viable Policy or Politics as Usual? https://www.versanconsulting.com/post/state-healthcare-cost-growth-benchmarks-viable-policy-or-politics-as-usual

NYC Hospital Prices: Remarks from Christin Deacon to New York City Council, October 14th, 2021; https://www.versanconsulting.com/post/nyc-hospital-prices-remarks-from-christin-deacon-to-new-york-city-council-october-14th-2021

• Substantial and ongoing work with Employer and Purchaser Coalitions on healthcare purchasing strategy, litigation strategy to enforce fiduciary rights, etc.
• Frequent speaker at National Forums and Venues on current state of Health Plan fiduciary litigation, as well as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, Hospital Price Transparency Rule, Transparency in Coverage Rule, and other recent federal and state regulatory areas of interest to ERISA and Government Sponsored health plan administrators.