Speakers
Lynn H. Albizo, Vice President of Public Policy for the Immune Deficiency Foundation
Lynn H. Albizo, Vice President of Public Policy for the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) is an accomplished healthcare policy strategist experienced in legislative, regulatory, and private payer advocacy at the state and federal levels. She has been advocating on behalf of IDF in support of the PI community for over six years. Her professional experience includes work as a Senior Analyst for the Maryland Health Care Commission on telehealth issues, Director of Public Affairs for the Maryland Addictions Directors Council, Executive Director of NAMI Maryland, and extensive government relations consulting experience on issues related to mental health, medication access and health benefit challenges. She has proven policy expertise in telehealth, newborn screening, behavioral health, rare and chronic diseases, and issues impacting the immunocompromised. Prior to her work in policy, Ms. Albizo practiced disability-related law in Maryland. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Union College and a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University, National Law Center, and is licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland.
Lucy Culp, Executive Director of State Government Affairs, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lucy Culp is Executive Director of State Government Affairs at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Lucy leads a team of government affairs staff who advocate for state-level policy change to ensure blood cancer patients have access to affordable, meaningful healthcare. Prior to joining LLS, Lucy spent over a decade at the American Heart Association, working extensively on tobacco prevention, state implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and a wide range of other health policies. Lucy also serves as a Consumer Representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Jennifer Dexter, Vice President, Policy, National Health Council
From her roots growing up in Arlington to her current family home in Silver Spring, Jennifer Dexter is a proud life-long resident of the Washington D.C. region. Dexter believes she may have always been destined to speak up for those who were left marginalized by the health care system. Even as a child, she closely watched and was inspired by her mothers work as a special education teacher in Prince Williams County school system.
Since that first childhood brush with advocacy and education, Dexter has amassed more than 20 years of experience in the field of public policy development. Now, in her role as the Vice President of Policy with the National Health Council, Dexter helps the groups member organizations to establish policy positions which seek to improve the lives of people with chronic diseases and disabilities.
Dexter is also one of the NHC’s most visible public faces, often making her way over to Capitol Hill itself where she further advocates for critical health care reform policies with key lawmakers and representatives from the executive branch.
Prior to joining the NHC in September 2019, Dexter spent two and a half years as a product director at Anthem, Inc. helping them develop and shape Medicaid solutions that supported people with disabilities, older adults, and children in foster care. Prior to that, Dexter led Easterseals’ efforts with Congress annually to assure funding for all federal programs serving people with disabilities and older adults, including Easterseals’ federal programs.
Dexter worked with Congress to create and strengthen public policy affecting people with disabilities and older adults, particularly in long-term services and supports. From her time at Easterseals’ to her current work with the NHC, the continued protection and enhancement of legislation such as the Affordable Care Act has been a top priority for Dexter and her team.
During her down time, Dexter is kept happily occupied as the mother an incredibly busy teenage son, as they bond over their shared love of basketball. Dexter earned her BA in political science from Washington University in St. Louis.
Kelly Hughes, Associate Director, Health Program, NCSL
As an associate director in the health program, Kelly Hughes, MPH, oversees staff and projects related to health care policy issues at NCSL. Ms. Hughes brings nearly two decades of professional experience in federal and state government, non-profit, research and health care settings. A graduate of CDC’s Public Health Prevention Service fellowship, she also earned her Bachelor of Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Master of Public Health from Emory University.
Eric Gascho, Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, National Health Council
Eric Gascho is the Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs. He has been with the National Health Council since August 2009. In his role, Gascho leads the National Health Council’s advocacy efforts by working with its member organizations to develop policy positions that seek to improve the lives of people with chronic diseases and disabilities and advocating for these policies on Capitol Hill and within the executive branch. He also represents the NHC in the national media, the broader health care community through public speaking engagements, and in coalitions. Gascho serves on the Steering Committee of the Partnership to Protect Coverage and the NIH’s PCOR Chronic Conditions Monitoring Board.
Prior to joining the NHC, he worked in the government relations department of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
Gascho earned his BA degrees in government and business management from the University of Redlands in California.
Anna Hyde, Vice President of Advocacy and Access, Arthritis Foundation
Anna Hyde is the Vice President of Advocacy and Access at the Arthritis Foundation. She oversees both the federal and state legislative programs, in addition to grassroots engagement. Her focus is to raise the visibility of arthritis as a public health priority, build support for federal and state legislation that ensures access to affordable, high-quality health care, and enhance patient engagement in the policy-making process. Anna previously served as Senior Director of Advocacy and Access, managing the federal affairs portfolio and overseeing the state advocacy team.
Prior to joining the Arthritis Foundation in 2014, Anna worked as Senior Manager for Federal Affairs at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, where she managed a portfolio of issues including appropriations, physician workforce, and health IT. She began her health policy career as a Congressional Fellow for Energy and Commerce Committee members, where she drafted legislation and staffed Committee activities. Anna received a BA in History from Southern Methodist University, and taught junior high and high school history before moving to Washington D.C. in 2007 to pursue an MA in Political Science from American University.
Jennifer Rosen, Senior Director, State Affairs, Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM)
Jennifer Rosen is senior director, State Affairs of the Alzheimer’s Association® and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM), a separately incorporated advocacy affiliate of the Association.
Rosen oversees the Association’s gubernatorial and legislative engagement strategy for all 50 states, manages state policy development efforts and leads a team that provides direct support to policy staff in the field to advance the enactment of state legislative and regulatory priorities nationwide. Rosen represents the Association before national organizations that serve state officials as well as various state policy focused organizations and coalitions.
During her tenure with the Association and AIM, the state response to the Alzheimer’s and dementia crisis reached a new level, as is evidenced by continuous increases in dementia-specific state funding to improve access to critical supports and services. As a leader in the Association’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Rosen was integral in the development of the Association’s COVID-19 Long-Term Care Policy Recommendations. She also led a 50-state campaign to implement critical policy solutions addressing the immediate and long-term issues impacting care settings in the wake of the pandemic.
Rosen has over 20 years of experience in government relations. Prior to joining the Alzheimer’s Association and AIM, Rosen served as the Director of Policy and Communications for the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL), where she launched policy initiatives focused on teen dating violence education, human trafficking and drug demand reduction efforts. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Women in Government Relations (WGR). Rosen holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from The George Washington University.
Randall L. Rutta, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Council
Randall “Randy” Rutta is a senior health care executive dedicated to policy-to-practice solutions that interpret, influence, and improve federal and state health care policies to enhance public and private sector health care innovation, outcomes, and efficiency.
Rutta joined the National Health Council (NHC) in February 2021 as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. As CEO, Rutta leads the NHC, as it enters its second century, with the goal of affecting change across the entire health system and promote increased access to affordable, high-value, sustainable health care. The NHC brings diverse organizations together to forge consensus and drive patient-centered health policy, and Rutta inspires the NHC staff to implement a Board-driven strategic plan and public policy and advocacy efforts.
Prior to joining the NHC, Rutta was the President & CEO of the American Autoimmune Related Disease Association (AARDA), a national organization dedicated to addressing the problem of autoimmunity, the major cause of more than 100 serious chronic diseases. AARDA initiated and hosts the 40-member National Coalition of Autoimmune Patient Groups and is a longtime member of the NHC. Prior to his role as President & CEO, he served as AARDA’s Federal Policy Consultant since March 2018.
Rutta served as Principal at ConnectHealth, LLC a Washington, DC-based consulting services company that he established in 2017 to provide strategic insight and support in achieving objectives across the health care eco-system.
In 2017, Rutta transitioned from the position of President and CEO at Easterseals, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the health, well-being, and success of people with disabilities, veterans, seniors, and families. For most of his 36 years at Easterseals, he was located in Washington, DC, at the organization’s Office of Public Affairs, overseeing federal and state legislative and regulatory activities, federal grant development, and international knowledge exchange. His career experience has been in acute care, health care quality assurance, and health policy development and implementation.
Rutta currently chairs the Board of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a national coalition of nearly 100 patient, provider, and community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of chronic disease in America and globally. He has been involved with PFCD as a partner organization leader and board member since 2007. He also is a Vice President and Secretary of American Eagle Lifecare Corporation and has been a member of its Board of Directors since 2008.
Rutta holds a Master of Arts in Politics, focusing on international health policy, from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Jamie Sullivan, Senior Director of Policy, EveryLife Foundation
Jamie Sullivan joined the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases in July 2020 where she serves as the Senior Director of Policy. Previously, Jamie served in a variety of roles for the COPD Foundation for more than a decade. Jamie’s work has focused on achieving patient-centered federal, state and regulatory policy changes in the areas of health appropriations, public health and regulatory infrastructure and access to care. In her role at the COPD Foundation, Jamie also focused on building programs to engage and train patient advocates as well as advocating for the robust inclusion of patient and caregiver perspectives in all aspects of treatment development and review. Prior to joining the COPD Foundation, Jamie supported the research and clinical programs of the Alpha-Foundation. She obtained her master’s in public health policy and management at the Florida International University.