Michael Lutz applies his background in plan strategy and operations to help clients anticipate changes in state and federal regulations and ensure compliance across all lines of business.

In recent projects, Michael has helped Medicare Advantage plans identify opportunities to improve their risk-adjustment and reporting processes (e.g., by submitting supplemental data from electronic health records to ensure compliance and reimbursement) and advised health plans on strategies for expanding enrollment across lines of business, for example, by identifying additional sales channels and developing advertising campaigns.

Before joining Avalere, Michael held operational roles at several health plans including Cigna HealthSpring and Independence Blue Cross, where he led various strategy and operations projects in support of health plan launches and health services initiatives.

Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dickinson College and a Master’s of Business Administration in risk management and insurance from Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

Authored Content


In the third and final installment of our AI for health plans video series, Avalere is joined by experts Mia Bolton and Teddy Gedamu from Tenasol to share real-world examples of how artificial intelligence (AI) can streamline data management and improve decision-making in health plans.

In the second installment of our AI for health plans video series, Avalere is joined by experts Mia Bolton and Teddy Gedamu from Tenasol to discuss how plans are operationalizing enterprise clinical data.

In the first installment of our AI for health plans video series, Avalere is joined by experts Mia Bolton and Teddy Gedamu from Tenasol to discuss the regulatory and market dynamics around clinical data and what this means for health plans.

The second installment of our Health Plan series examines how clinical care will shift in reaction to changes in demographics, technology, and environmental factors.

CMS’s new Medicaid and CHIP managed care rule will impact wait time standards, In Lieu of Service and Setting usage, and quality rating.

The first installment of our Health Plans series explains how plans can evolve their approaches to provider contracting and utilization management for the future.

Join Avalere’s healthcare policy experts as they dissect the Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for CY 2025 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies and discuss the future trajectory of Medicare Advantage (MA) in Part D and potential outcomes, headwinds, and tailwinds for health plans.

In this video, Manoj Pawar, Chief Medical Officer of Mutual of Omaha, joins Avalere experts to discuss their recent partnership on a project that sought to identify innovative ways to use data to inform payer/provider partnerships in the Medicare program.

Tune into the third episode in our video series focused on Medicare Advantage. In this segment, Avalere quality measures experts, Michael Lutz and Taylor Musser, discuss the shift toward member-reported measures and implications of recent measure reporting methodology updates.

Join Avalere’s healthcare policy experts for an analysis of the final rate announcement and a discussion on the future of Medicare Advantage (MA) and potential outcomes for health plans.

Digital health will continue to be a focus under recently confirmed Secretary Becerra‘s leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services. As the Biden administration looks to enforce compliance across a range of data interoperability and price transparency rules, as well as usher in new Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) coverage policies for medical technologies and digital health tools, the industry is responding with a range of innovations.

Tune into another episode of Start Your Day with Avalere. In this segment, our health plan experts delve into the key actions, considerations, and watch outs of a successful Medicaid procurement, or re-procurement, response from both the state and health plan perspectives.

An analysis of CMS’s Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) model shows that fully dual-eligible beneficiaries have the highest risk scores.

Faced with a rapidly evolving healthcare environment, there are a number of important uncertainties that commercial insurers will need to consider when planning for the future

On April 9, Avalere experts came together to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the health insurance industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic will have ongoing, market-wide implications as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans contend both with responding to the virus and the disruption to their normal activities.

Our panel of experts engaged in an in-depth discussion of the rapidly evolving regulatory environment surrounding COVID-19 testing and treatment and the strategic, financial, and operational challenges this disease presents for health insurers.