About Us
JWHammer provides results driven, strategic consulting to insurance companies and hospitals. JWHammer has experience managing accreditation, market conduct examinations from both the regulator and insurer perspective, as well as state and federal examinations, grants, regulation, and legislation. JWHammer also provides policy advocacy, government affairs consulting, and regulator navigation to property and casualty insurers. She is very active at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and other national association meetings (NCOIL and NCSL) and assists clients with strengthening their relationship with their regulators. She provides NCQA Accreditation, The Joint Commission Accreditation, HEDIS, quality and rating improvement strategic planning and implementation to health insurance companies and hospitals.
JWHammer is led by Jennifer Hammer, who was the first woman to serve as confirmed Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance. In January 2018, Hammer became the Chair of the Property and Casualty (C) Insurance Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). She successfully led the Illinois Department through accreditation and strategic planning and implementation. JWHammer has successfully provided services to four separate states related to health policy initiatives.
Prior to her appointment as Director, Jennifer served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Office of the Governor where she worked closely with state agencies to develop and implement the Governor’s public policy agenda.
Previously, she served as Special Counsel to the Governor and Policy Advisor for Healthcare and Human Services. In this role, she coordinated all healthcare-related agencies, including the DOI and the state Medicaid agency, Healthcare and Family Services. Hammer oversaw the transition of Get Covered Illinois, Illinois’ Health Insurance Marketplace, from an independent commission to the DOI.
Prior to joining state government, Hammer was Associate Vice President/Legal Counsel for Government Affairs for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and a lawyer in private practice with a focus on insurance defense, healthcare, business and advising clients on legislation including the Affordable Care Act.
Hammer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and a J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law.
She resides in Springfield, Illinois with her husband, Grant, and three children.
For additional team member information, please do not hesitate to reach out to JWHammer, LLC.