Yet he began his career as a lawyer, receiving his
law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law
at the Illinois Institute of Technology after gaining
a political science degree from the University of
Illinois at Chicago. The son of a druggist, Maram
was always interested in health care and, after his
1971 graduation from IIT Chicago-Kent, worked as
a lawyer representing people with injuries and
disabilities as well as health-care providers.
Nonetheless, it was Maram’s Harris School education
that provided a real bridge between his legal
background and where he is today. “My interest
was to combine [my] medical legal background
with a strong qualitative and quantitative public
policy background,” he said.
The Harris School gave him “a very strong in-depth
academic grounding that provided a clear understanding
of the field and the economic and public policy issues that were a part of it. It also
gave me a lot of practical knowledge. It
gave me a real understanding of how the
providers and the beneficiaries of the system
interfaced with one another.”
He put this understanding to good use
after graduation in 1985, as the executive
director of the Illinois Health Facilities
Authority, then the state’s central financing
agency for health-care institutions. “I believe
that finance drives health policy, because
we want to do a lot of interesting things to
change the health-care system, but you
can’t do it if you can’t pay for it,” he said.
In 2003, Governor Rod Blagojevich
appointed Maram to lead DHFS (formerly
known as the Illinois Department of Public
Aid), enabling him to work further in overlapping
finance and policy issues. “What
a great opportunity to be able to provide
affordable health insurance to people
who need it—and to find ways to do it cost
effectively.”
Working with his department and relying
on the confidence in quantitative analysis
he developed at the Harris School, Maram
helped find $56 million in savings to kick off
the All Kids initiative, providing health
insurance to all Illinois children. This is in
addition to providing health insurance to
more than 400,000 working families,
seniors, and children.
One of many Harris School alumni currently
in Illinois state government, Maram’s hard
work was recently recognized by the
National Governor’s Association with a
2005 Award for Distinguished Service in
State Government.
Maram is also proud of the work he’s done
with federal and state officials during his
tenure to help bring $450 million back into
the Medicaid system through a statewide
hospital assessment program. “There have
been some real, real changes,” he said.
One thing that hasn’t changed is his commitment
to the School. “I’ve found that
with a Harris School education you can do
incredible things,” he said. “I mean there
are almost no boundaries. It’s the kind of
education that gives a strong academic
and practical foundation needed to perform
at a senior level as well as the confidence
to succeed.”
Jenn Q. Goddu
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