Department of Health and Human Services

Bio, via The Claremont Institute:

Marie Meszaros is a policy analyst for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Ms. Meszaros works on educating the public about issues that have significant fiscal policy impact. Prior to working at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, she was a legislative assistant to Congressman Mark Sanford. There, Ms. Meszaros managed a large domestic issues portfolio, including health, tax, budget, insurance, and labor and employment. She is also a co-founder of ReNew, an undertaking of young conservatives and libertarians organized to encourage candidates and policymakers to offer innovative policy solutions to Americans outside traditional Republican constituencies. In 2015, she was chosen for The Heritage Foundation’s Congressional Fellowship Program and is also an alum of the Leonine Forum Fellowship. Ms. Meszaros holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Bio, via Department of Health and Human Services:

Jerry Milner, D.S.W., is the Associate Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau, and the Acting Commissioner for the Administration on Children, Youth and Families. Before joining the Trump administration at ACF, he served as the Vice President for Child Welfare Practice at the Center for the Support of Families. At the Center for the Support of Families, he assisted state and local child welfare agencies in evaluating their child welfare programs, and designed and implemented improvements in practice, policy and procedures. His work includes the use of data, implementation science principles, development of practice models, systematic problem solving and the direct provision of technical assistance to achieve organizational changes and practice improvements in child welfare. Dr. Milner comes to ACF with direct state-level experience as well. During his tenure as state child welfare director in Alabama, he led efforts to reform child welfare practice according to system of care principles. In addition to those positions, Dr. Milner worked in the Children’s Bureau to implement and manage the Child and Family Service Reviews of state child welfare services programs. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from Auburn University and graduate degrees in social work from the University of Alabama. Dr. Milner brings 43 years of practice, management and technical assistance experience in child welfare at the local, state and federal levels.

Bio, via The Leadership Institute:

Pedro C. Moreno is the President of the Moreno Group. He is an author, blogger, speaker and consultant on health, social policy and immigration reform. He has served in the private sector as well as the Federal and State governments, managing large institutions including as Deputy Secretary at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, as Deputy Director for Operations at the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Counselor to the Deputy Director for Demand Reduction at The White House Drug Policy (working on demand reduction among youth), Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Administration for Children and Families), Prison Fellowship International, The Rutherford Institute, and the Social Emergency Fund (in cooperation with the World Bank). His banking experience includes work with BankBoston, and the World Bank, and worked as a researcher on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and privatization of sugar and electricity industries in Chile, as well as international contracts reviewer. Moreno has done fund raising for non-profit organizations, political campaigns, and public sector organizations. In addition to a Law Degree, Moreno received a Master’s in international law and economic development from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and completed the Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at Harvard University. Moreno has traveled in 65 countries on all continents and also speaks Spanish and French.

Bio, via Physician Coaching Institute:

My health care career has given me a diversity of experience and perspectives. As a White House health staffer, I advised senior officials on cost, quality, and access issues, and oversaw $200 billion in annual Medicare payments. My work included implementation of Inpatient Hospital Quality Reporting, Medicare Severity DRGS, post-acute care payment reform, redesign of the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program, overseeing Medicare Demonstration Programs that preceded ACOs, and serving as the liaison to Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for Medicare. I’ve also worked in health care as a consultant supporting health care systems adjusting to change. I helped a safety net physician practice adjust its operations to maintain profitability under new Medicare Advantage capitated plans. I supported an Academic Medical Center and Faculty Plan seeking to balance clinical, academic, and research missions in an era of reduced NIH and Medicare funding. Currently, I support CMS partnerships with State Based Health Care Exchanges providing coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Bio, via Beer Institute:

Caitlin Oakley started as the Executive Assistant for the Beer Institute in August 2014. She provides government affairs and communications support, plans Beer Institute events and briefings and coordinates various other initiatives to help the Beer Institute meet its goals and objectives. Caitlin previously worked for Representative H. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) as his executive assistant. Prior to joining Congressman Griffith’s staff, Caitlin held an internship with the Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division after graduating from the College of William and Mary

Bio, via Department of Health and Human Services:

John Michael O’Brien is the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Health Policy) for Planning and Evaluation. He leads a team of interdisciplinary experts who bridge Departmental programs, public and private sector activities, and the research community to develop, analyze, coordinate and provide leadership on health policy issues for the Secretary. The Office of Health Policy conducts policy, economic and budget analyses, assists in the development and review of regulations, budgets, and legislation and publishes research, evaluations and analysis of key health policy priorities. Dr. O’Brien joined ASPE from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. As Vice President of Public Policy, he represented CareFirst and advised its leadership on federal and state policy, led internal research and external program evaluations, and served as an internal expert on payment policy and delivery system reform. He has also worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Notre Dame of Maryland University College of Pharmacy, and pharmacy and pharmaceutical organizations. John has a master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a doctor of pharmacy degree from Nova Southeastern University, and studied pharmacy and public policy at the University of Florida.

Bio, via Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:

Arne Owens is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Owens came to SAMHSA following service on Capitol Hill as health care policy advisor for Sen. Bob Corker (Tennessee) and Sen. David Vitter (Louisiana), and as global health policy advisor for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Previously he served in state government as Chief Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions under then Gov. Bob McDonnell, at SAMHSA as Senior Advisor to the Administrator in the administration of then President George W. Bush, and as Deputy Commissioner, Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, under former Gov. James Gilmore Until 1997, Mr. Owens was a career Army officer, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after serving in a variety of executive and staff assignments throughout the world, including Korea and the Persian Gulf and Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He completed his military service in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, supporting the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Mr. Owens is a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and holds a Master of Science Degree from the University of Southern California.

Bio, via HHS.Gov:

An accomplished healthcare executive with broad leadership experience, James Parker has spent his career working to provide Americans with quality, affordable health insurance. He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of MDwise, Inc., an Indiana Medicaid managed care organization with over 300,000 members and $1.4 billion in revenue. He also led the development of a provider-sponsored health plan and population health management capabilities within Indiana University Health, an Indianapolis-based integrated health system and served as co-chair of the Indiana University Health Population Health Management Services Organization. Mr. Parker previously spent 20 years with Anthem, Inc. in a number of senior leadership roles advancing initiatives to improve the quality and affordability of health insurance.