Kyla Ellis is a director with Manatt Health, who brings over a decade of leadership experience at the intersection of federal health policy, strategic advisory services and global health systems and advises clients on health care transformation and cross-sector policy implementation.

Kyla served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She was a key member of the agency’s executive team, helping shape and execute policy priorities across Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces—programs that collectively serve more than 160 million Americans. In this role, Kyla served as the Administrator’s principal advisor on ACA Marketplace policy and regulatory strategy, while also providing counsel for other cross-cutting, high-impact initiatives such as ACA enhancements, Medicare drug price negotiations, Medicaid redeterminations and the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and No Surprises Act.

During her previous tenure at Manatt, Kyla advised states, health plans and foundations on strategies to expand coverage, improve affordability and drive system innovation. She developed public option designs across multiple states and authored influential policy briefs and white papers on federal and state health reform, ACA enhancements and cost containment strategies.

Kyla’s early career focused on global health, working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Partners In Health and community-based clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work centered on health system strengthening and primary care delivery in low-resource settings.