Harvard official may get key healthcare post

Rosemarie Day , chief of staff to the dean at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is likely to become chief operating officer at the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority.

Day said she is ``very honored" to be considered for the position, but that nothing is final.

Dick Powers , a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said a decision is expected soon. ``We anticipate filling this critical role shortly and will make an announcement at the appropriate time," he said.

Day would oversee the operations of the connector, an authority established by the Legislature's recent healthcare reform bill . The connector will help develop low-cost insurance plans and create a market for insurers to sell them to residents who currently don't have coverage. It will also set standards and make rules to help determine which businesses qualify as providers of reasonable healthcare coverage for their employees.

From 2001 to 2004, Day ran MassHealth, the state Medicaid program that provides healthcare services for low-income residents.

She would join Jon Kingsdale , the former Tufts Health Plan executive who is executive director of the connector authority. Kingsdale, who began work in his new position last week, faces a challenging timetable . Under the reform law, low-cost health policies are to be made available to residents by Oct. 1. All residents will be required to have health insurance July 1, 2007.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.