Allyson Y. Schwartz is President and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a nationally recognized leader on health care issues. Having worked as a health service executive, Schwartz was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1990, serving 14 years until her election to Congress. In the state Senate, Schwartz was the driving force behind Pennsylvania’s CHIP program, which was a model for the federal CHIP program five years later. In Congress, Schwartz was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee and served as a senior member of the Budget Committee. Schwartz is a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Visiting Fellow at the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative and Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center Health and Housing Task Force.

Dr. Penso is president and chief executive officer at AMGA, a trade association that represents medical groups and other organized systems of care. Dr. Penso previously served as chief medical and quality officer for AMGA and president of AMGA Foundation.

Prior to joining AMGA, Dr. Penso served as medical director, continuum of care for Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group (SRSMG). In addition to his work at AMGA and SRSMG, Dr. Penso has served on the Integrated Healthcare Association Board of Directors, the California Cooperative Healthcare Reporting Initiative Executive Committee, and Board of Directors of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, and chaired the Technical Quality Committee for California’s Pay for Performance program. He currently serves as chair of the Board of Directors of two AMGA subsidiaries, AMGA Analytics, and AMGA Consulting. Dr. Penso also serves on the board of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.

Steve Nelson is chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, a $160 billion division of UnitedHealth Group. In September 2017, he was named to the Office of the Chief Executive for UnitedHealth Group.

Previously Steve served as chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare & Retirement business, a $65 billion division of UnitedHealthcare and the nation’s largest organization dedicated to seniors and Medicare beneficiaries. Other past roles included leading UnitedHealthcare’s Community & State business, an organization that delivers Medicaid solutions to 25 state governments and more than 5 million individuals, and leadership of the West Region of UnitedHealthcare’s Employer & Individual business. Before coming to UnitedHealthcare, Steve was president of the Eastern Region and Senior Products Division at HealthNet and served for 10 years in executive roles at the Henry Ford Health System.

Joseph R. Antos is the Wilson H. Taylor Scholar in Health Care and Retirement Policy at the American Enterprise Institute and adjunct associate professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University. He is the Vice-Chair of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, where he is serving a third term as a commissioner.

Previously, Dr. Antos was Assistant Director for Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office, and he held senior management positions in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Management and Budget, and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. His work focuses on the economics of health policy, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, the uninsured, and the overall reform of the health care system.

Melanie Egorin has over 20 years of health policy experience almost 15 years in the federal government. Dr. Egorin currently serves as Democratic Deputy Staff Director, Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the lead staff person for Affordable Care Act policy as well as Medicare Advantage, dualeligible beneficiaries, women’s health, and health tax issues. Prior to joining Ways and Means, Dr. Egorin was a Senior Analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Before moving to Washington D.C., she worked for the University of California Office of the President and taught at San Francisco State University.

Chris Jennings is a health policy veteran of the White House, the Congress and the private sector. Mr. Jennings is President of Jennings Policy Strategies (JPS), a nationally respected health care consulting firm committed to assisting foundations and other aligned stakeholders develop policies to ensure higher quality, more affordable health care. In January 2014, Mr. Jennings departed from his second tour of duty in the White House where he served as Senior Advisor to the President for Health Policy. He served in a similar capacity in the Clinton White House for eight years. From his positions, Mr. Jennings has helped pass, enact and implement the Affordable Care Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and numerous other health reforms. He served as the Deputy Director of the Special Committee on Aging for three Senators and led major reform efforts in the areas of long-term care, prescription drug coverage/cost containment, and rural health care.

Nick Uehlecke is a professional staff member for the House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health majority staff. His portfolio includes Medicare Advantage & Part D policies as well as Medicare fraud and program integrity across the system. Nick has been with the Subcommittee since the start of 2011, prior to which he was an analyst for the Marwood Group in several fields including health care for nearly three years.

Dan Mendelson is President of Avalere Health. He leads the firm’s operations and engages in data-driven strategic work for major clients in life sciences, managed care, and the provider sectors. Prior to founding Avalere in 2000, Dan served as Associate Director for Health at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Mendelson presently serves on the Board of Champions Oncology (CSBR) and is Executive in Residence at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He previously served on the boards of Coventry Healthcare, PharMerica Corporation and HMS holdings. Dan speaks frequently and is often quoted in the media on business strategy and policy matters – often highlighting the outstanding analytic work of the Avalere staff.

Paul Cotton is the National Committee for Quality Assurance Director of Federal Affairs. He works with Congress, the Administration and other stakeholders to improve health care quality. Previously he was a lobbyist for AARP on Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, health reform, health IT and quality improvement issues. He has also worked at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services as Hearings & Policy Presentation Director in the Office of Legislation, and as a journalist for publications including the Journal of the American Medical Association.

John Gorman is Founder & Executive Chairman at Gorman Health Group (GHG). In this role, he has led the development of the industry’s leading consulting practice and several entrepreneurial ventures in government health programs. John’s work focuses on Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act strategy, governance, and turnaround of distressed health plans. Prior to founding the firm, John served as Assistant to the Director of Health Care Financing Administration’s Office of Managed Care, where he provided day-to-day management and served as the external liaison for the Medicare and Medicaid managed care programs. During the 1993 debate on national healthcare reform, John was chief lobbyist on healthcare financing issues for the National Association of Community Health Centers, an organization of federally-funded primary care clinics for the medically underserved. John’s career in Washington began as Press Secretary and Staff Director for U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), then Chairman of the Government Operations Committee.

Mark Newsom has 20 years of experience focusing on the intersection of health policy and business. He currently serves as Vice President of Public Policy Analysis at Humana, where he advises senior business executives on the policy environment and leads analysis of CMS regulations and guidance. Mark joined Humana in July 2015, after serving as a Director of Public Policy at CVS Health, where he focused on the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) subsidiary and the Business Development /Merger and Acquisition team. Prior to CVS Health, Mark spent nearly 6 years at CMS, developing Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D payment policies and operations. Mark also served two years as a senior policy analyst at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and as Director of Medicare Policy and Compliance at Coventry.

As the Chief Experience Officer, Paul Wimer is responsible for driving member engagement and utilization of products and services, as well as brand and product marketing, product development, product management and strategic partnership development. Wimer joined Tivity Health in 2017 and brings more than 25 years of experience assisting companies, from start-ups to Fortune 100 businesses, with corporate strategy development in a variety of industries.

Prior to Tivity Health, Wimer was a senior principal at Clareo Partners, where he advised clients on strategic growth and corporate venture capital, and was a founding managing director at Topspin Partners, a New York-based venture capital and private equity firm, where he was responsible for all aspects of investing.

Susan Dentzer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the NEHI, the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation. a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization composed of more than 100 stakeholder organizations from across all key sectors of health and health care. Dentzer previously served as senior policy adviser to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Prior to that, she was editor-in-chief of the journal Health Affairs, and, she served as the on-air Health Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. Dentzer is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Rescue Committee; a member of the board of directors of Research!America; and a member of the board of directors of the Public Health Institute. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Hasting Center. She previously served as a public member of the American Board of Medical Specialties.

Fran Soistman is Executive Vice President of Aetna and President of the Government Services segment. He is responsible for driving growth in the company’s Medicare, Medicaid and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Prior to joining Aetna, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Jessamine Healthcare. Mr. Soistman has held several senior leadership positions at Coventry Health Care, including Executive Vice President for the Individual Consumer and Government Business Division. He was appointed by Governor Rendell to serve on the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. Mr. Soistman serves on multiple higher education boards, including the Towson University Board of Visitors, the University System of Maryland Foundation Board of Directors, and the Penn State University Presidential Leadership Board. In addition, he represents Aetna on the Healthcare Leadership Council the Healthcare Transformation Task Force and the Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy Scientific Advisory Board.

Fran Soistman is Executive Vice President of Aetna and President of the Government Services segment. He is responsible for driving growth in the company’s Medicare, Medicaid and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Prior to joining Aetna, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Jessamine Healthcare. Mr. Soistman has held several senior leadership positions at Coventry Health Care, including Executive Vice President for the Individual Consumer and Government Business Division. He was appointed by Governor Rendell to serve on the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. Mr. Soistman serves on multiple higher education boards, including the Towson University Board of Visitors, the University System of Maryland Foundation Board of Directors, and the Penn State University Presidential Leadership Board. In addition, he represents Aetna on the Healthcare Leadership Council the Healthcare Transformation Task Force and the Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy Scientific Advisory Board.

Thomas Hutchinson is a Strategic Advisor for EBG Advisors, Inc. He has more than 25 years of experience in both the private sector and in federal service implementing programs and policies directly affecting Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Mr. Hutchinson advises clients on a wide range of payment policy and operations issues relating to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Prior to his joining EBG Advisors in this business advisory role, Mr. Hutchinson served as the director of the Medicare Plan Payment Group at CMS, where he was responsible for all aspects of annual Medicare payments to Part C (Medicare Advantage) and Part D (drug) plans, totaling approximately $160 billion.

Mr. Hutchinson provided essential technical assistance to Congressional staff in drafting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) regarding changes in the Medicare Advantage payment methodology. His knowledge was sought by HHS executives responsible for implementing the ACA, particularly with regard to payment and plan design.

Beth Honan, Chief Contracting Officer, is responsible for leading Atrius Health’s overall health plan contracting strategy, negotiations, contract performance and relationship management efforts. Additionally Beth oversees Atrius Health’s contracting initiatives in support of key hospital and other provider partnerships. This work involves monitoring contract performance and implementing improvement initiatives, developing new approaches to alternative financial arrangements, identifying strategic business opportunities and aligning incentives through innovative contracting models between Atrius Health and its’ key health plan and hospital partners. Beth joined Harvard Vanguard in 2000 as Assistant Vice President of Contracting. Prior to that, Beth served in various leadership roles including Regional Director for Tufts Health Plan – Rhode Island, Director of Contracting at Lowell General Hospital and Executive Director of the Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization. Beth’s responsibilities have included network development, provider contracting, business development, strategic planning, provider operations and provider engagement.

Dr. Nguyen is currently with Inova Health System as CEO, Commonwealth Health Network (Inova’s Tri-State -VA, MD and DC) Clinically Integrated. The Network contracts with insurers and employers to deliver value -healthcare through better clinical coordination, effective care management models and reducing unnecessary utilization of healthcare services.

Dr. Nguyen has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare. Dr. Nguyen has a broad range of experience working with health systems and networks (Banner Health, Texas Health Resources) and payers (Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield), all focused on establishing the foundations for population health and outcomes-based reimbursement. She has worked as an emergency medicine physician, a clinical leader in hospital settings and as an executive champion for improving the health and well-being of the people in the community.

Aric Sharp is the VP of Accountable Care for UnityPoint Health. He helps lead UnityPoint Health Partners a 7,500+ physician ACO with over 350,000 attributed lives including being one of the largest Next Generation Model ACO programs in the country. Mr. Sharp currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Medical Group Association. He is a past Chair of the AMGA Public Policy Committee and past Board Member of the AMGA-Political Action Committee. Prior to joining UnityPoint Health, Sharp served as the CEO of Quincy Medical Group and in various roles with The Iowa Clinic, P.C. He has over 20 years of experience leading multispecialty group practices, is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Certified Medical Practice Executive.

Dr. Penso is president and chief executive officer at AMGA, a trade association that represents medical groups and other organized systems of care. Dr. Penso previously served as chief medical and quality officer for AMGA and president of AMGA Foundation.

Prior to joining AMGA, Dr. Penso served as medical director, continuum of care for Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group (SRSMG). In addition to his work at AMGA and SRSMG, Dr. Penso has served on the Integrated Healthcare Association Board of Directors, the California Cooperative Healthcare Reporting Initiative Executive Committee, and Board of Directors of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, and chaired the Technical Quality Committee for California’s Pay for Performance program. He currently serves as chair of the Board of Directors of two AMGA subsidiaries, AMGA Analytics, and AMGA Consulting. Dr. Penso also serves on the board of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.