Millersville, MD – J29, Inc. (J29), an employee-centered healthcare management consulting company specializing in processing, review, adjudicating, and analysis of health and human service claims, records, appeals, and audits, welcomes Ashley Badami as J29’s CMS Engagement Leader.
Ashley Badami brings more than a decade of federal healthcare leadership and clinical expertise as a Registered Nurse to J29. Most recently, she served at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a Division Director within the CMS Center for Program Integrity (CPI) overseeing the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Recovery Audit (RAC) Program through which medical record review and auditing are used to identify and correct improperly paid Medicare claims. In that capacity, she established and maintained relationships not only with the RACs but also with key stakeholders across the Medicare ecosystem, including Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) contractor, and the Supplemental Medical Review Contractor (SMRC), Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs), Qualified Independent Contractors (QICs), and the Administrative QIC (AdQIC). She also oversaw the operation and growth of the RAC Data Warehouse (RACDW), a claims data repository used to ensure efficient program oversight of FFS review entities.
Prior to serving as Division Director, Ashley held several roles of increasing responsibility at CMS, including Deputy Division Director and Nurse Consultant. As a Nurse Consultant, she provided clinical expertise and contractor management support as a Contract Officer Representative (COR) Level III in support of Medicare FFS contracts. Prior to CMS, Ashley worked in Oncology, as a bed-side Registered Nurse supporting a major hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Ashley’s deep experience in federal healthcare and program integrity strengthens J29’s ability to support our partners with accuracy, accountability, and compassion,” said Nick Vass, President of J29, Inc. “Her leadership and clinical insight will directly enhance the quality and impact of the work we deliver across the CMS ecosystem. We are honored to have such a strong culturally-aligned addition on our team.”
In her new role at J29, Ashley will be supporting various programs across the J29 portfolio where we will leverage her medical record review, program integrity, appeals navigation, and claims lifecycle expertise. She will collaborate with J29 teams supporting federal and state healthcare initiatives that require rigorous clinical and policy review, stakeholder engagement, and quality-driven operations. Additionally, Ashley will support J29’s engagement efforts with CMS to ensure that J29 remains committed to being a trusted partner to the agency.
“After many years in Federal service and Program Integrity, I am drawn to J29’s employee-first culture and their dedication to getting things right.,” said Ashley Badami, J29’s new CMS Engagement Leader. “I am very excited to leverage my experience in support of J29’s work in the CMS space.”
Ashley Badami holds BSN and MS degrees and is a Registered Nurse. She also completed Cornell University’s Public Sector Leadership program in April 2025.
About J29, Inc.
Founded in 2017, J29 is an employee-centered health and human service management consulting company that specializes in the processing, review, and analysis of medical claims, records, and healthcare audits. J29 has been supporting health and human service missions at the commercial, State, and Federal levels since company inception with a present-day team of over 200 employees across 30+ different states. Learn more about our impact on: www.j29inc.com
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