Lamont Nominates Attorney Kathleen Unger Holt State’s Healthcare Advocate

Gov. Ned Lamont has announced the nomination of Kathleen Unger Holt of Mansfield to serve as Connecticut’s healthcare advocate.

Since 2014, Holt has been the associate director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that works to advance access to comprehensive Medicare coverage for the elderly and people with disabilities. She was recommended to Lamont by the Healthcare Advocate Advisory Committee, which recently completed a statutorily-required process to search for, evaluate and endorse candidates for the position.

“I am very excited that Kathy Holt has accepted our offer to serve as Connecticut’s next healthcare advocate because she has an incredible amount of experience, both here in our state and on a national level, in helping people access the coverage they need and advocating on their behalf, especially for people who are older, people who have disabilities, and people who frequently face barriers to obtaining health insurance,” Lamont said. “Kathy is going to be an excellent partner for our administration, the legislature, and the people of Connecticut to help develop the policies we need to strengthen access to affordable, high-quality health insurance.”

“I am thrilled to accept Governor Lamont’s nomination as Connecticut’s healthcare advocate, working to ensure every Connecticut resident has the best possible access to affordable, quality healthcare,” Holt said. “In addition to assisting individuals obtain access to healthcare services, the Office of the Healthcare Advocate represents the collective voice of all Connecticut patients.”

Holt, who was raised in Newtown, worked for Cigna in Bloomfield, where she developed insurance claim process improvement strategies. After earning a Master of Business Administration in healthcare management from the University of Connecticut, she helped protect patient rights and expand patient services as a hospital administrator, first at New Britain Memorial Hospital and then at Northwest Hospital in Seattle, Washington.

Upon obtaining her law degree from Seattle University School of Law in 1993, Holt became a special assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Seattle. In that position, she authored health law opinions, litigated in federal court, and served as an in-house attorney for administrative law judges.

In 1997, following the birth of her second child who was born with significant disabilities, Holt founded a Seattle-area law practice to advocate for the needs of older people and people who have disabilities. She led this practice until her arrival at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

In addition to her professional work, Holt volunteers her time with several organizations, including service as chair of the board of directors for the Yale-New Haven Health System’s Lawrence + Memorial Hospital; as a member of the board of directors for Team Gleason, an organization that advocates for people living with ALS; as a commissioner for the Mansfield Housing Authority, which assists low and moderate-income families with safe, decent and affordable housing; and as a public member of the Connecticut Teacher’s Retirement Board.

Holt will begin serving as healthcare advocate in an interim capacity effective September 30, 2024. At the start of the next regular legislative session, which begins January 8, 2025, the Office of the Governor will forward Holt’s nomination to the Connecticut General Assembly for its advice and consent. Upon being confirmed by the legislature during the regular session, she will begin serving a full four-year term.

Holt will succeed the most recent healthcare advocate, Ted Doolittle, who stepped down from the position last year to accept an appointment as a federal immigration judge. Since Doolittle’s departure, Sean King, who is the general counsel for the Office of the Healthcare Advocate, has been serving as acting healthcare advocate.