John M. Colmers

Secretary

Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 

John M. Colmers is the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  This cabinet level agency has a budget of $7.0 billion and nearly 8,000 employees.  

From November 2000 through January 2007, Mr. Colmers was a Senior Program Officer for the Milbank Memorial Fund. The New York-based Milbank Memorial Fund is an endowed national foundation that provides nonpartisan analysis, study, research, and communication on significant issues in health policy. 

Prior to joining the Fund, he spent 19 years in Maryland State government where he held various positions, including executive director of the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) and the Health Services Cost Review Commission, the agency overseeing Maryland’s all-payer hospital rate setting system.  

Mr. Colmers has a BS from the Johns Hopkins University and an MPH from UNC Chapel Hill.  He is a contributing editor of the American Journal of Public Health.  He was a director of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Chairman of one of its affiliates, CareFirst of Maryland, Inc. He is currently a member of the Board of Academy Health where he serves as treasurer.  He is a past chair of the steering committee of the Reforming States Group, a bipartisan group of executive and legislative leaders.