'It's been a historic era'

Karen Davis, who joined the Commonwealth Fund as policymakers recoiled from the early 1990s collapse of healthcare reform, announced she will step down as president from the healthcare research foundation at the end of 2012.

Davis, 69, said she will leave feeling good about the Commonwealth Fund's contribution to shaping the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. “It's been a historic era,” she said.

Davis joined the Commonwealth Fund as executive vice president in 1992 from Johns Hopkins University, where she was chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management, and was promoted to president of the Commonwealth Fund in 1995. She was director of the U.S. Health Resources Administration in 1980 and previously was deputy assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in HHS' Office of the Secretary.

Davis has been a perennial presence on Modern Healthcare's lists of important figures. In 2011, she ranked No. 58 among the 100 Most Influential People and was named one of the Top 25 Women.

The foundation, based in New York, has hired an executive search firm to find a successor, and Davis said the foundation will benefit from fresh leadership after the coming elections. She said she is eager to continue health policy work as the country grapples with curbing healthcare costs without sacrificing access and quality.