Panel 3 – On the Hill: What’s Ahead for Health Policy in Congress

Wendell Primus was the Senior Policy Advisor on Health and Budget issues to Speaker Nancy Pelosi for 18 years. In that capacity, he was the lead House staffer in developing the Affordable Care Act. He also played a major role in the SGR legislation in 2015 and various budget agreements. The drug pricing legislation that was part of the Inflation Reduction Act was his proudest staff accomplishment. He also worked closely with Rep. Karen Bass on the Families First Child Welfare Act. Prior to this appointment in March 2005, Dr. Primus was the Minority Staff Director at the Joint Economic Committee for two years. He also was Director of Income Security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities where much of his work was centered on Unemployment Insurance. He served in the Clinton administration at the Department of Health and Human Services before his resignation. Prior to his appointment at HHS, he was Chief Economist for the House Ways and Means Committee and Staff Director for the Committee’s Subcommittee on Human Resources. At Ways and Means, he worked on the 1983 Social Security Amendments and numerous budget reconciliation bills affecting Medicare in the 1980s. He was also profiled in the New York Times for his work on the 1990 Budget agreement. Dr. Primus received his Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University.

Charlotte Ivancic joined TDY in 2015 as a partner after more than a decade on Capitol Hill serving as a health care policy advisor to members of the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives. She worked for Senator Bill Frist during his time as a Majority Leader, and more recently for Speaker Paul Ryan and Speaker John Boehner. Charlotte was instrumental in developing Speaker Ryan’s Medicare proposals while he was Chairman of the House Budget Committee. Later, she led the effort to secure passage of historic legislation to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate physician payment formula and replace it with a new payment system that rewards quality. Before working for Congress, Charlotte was a health care attorney in a D.C. regulatory practice. She also worked at Children’s Hospital in Boston prior to attending law school at Boston University, where she concentrated in health law.

Stephanie Quinn is senior vice president of external affairs and practice experience at the American Academy of Family Physicians where she oversees the AAFP Divisions of Government Relations, Practice Advancement, and Strategic Engagements. Prior to joining the AAFP, Stephanie Quinn was vice president of federal government affairs at CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield where she led the company’s federal legislative agenda on issues such as market stability, drug pricing policy, and social determinants of health. Before CareFirst, Stephanie was assistant director of congressional relations for the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and served as deputy director of federal government affairs for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Stephanie holds a combined degree in linguistics and Spanish from the Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia.