Rachel is a highly experienced government relations and legislative affairs strategist and advocate who is informed by a solid foundation of health policy knowledge and years working as a leading health policy aide on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch, and as an advisor to a variety of clients.
Prior to joining McDermottPlus, Rachel was the director of government affairs for a leading virtual care company. She led efforts to build the profile of the organization in a fast-moving, innovative policy and regulatory environment encompassing issues related to primary care and behavioral and mental health services provided via virtual care, as well as medical professional licensing, privacy, and security. She also previously served as the director of policy and government relations for a health IT contractor, where she developed the company’s first strategic plan for government relations.
Rachel was previously lead legislative liaison at the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) where she was instrumental in providing research, analysis and feedback to members of Congress and staff on the 21st Century Cures legislation, among other relevant policies. Rachel also created short- and long-term strategic outreach plans that increased ONC’s visibility and profile.
Earlier in her career, Rachel served in several senior health legislative roles in the personal offices of Members of Congress, including most notably Congresswoman Diana DeGette. She was the primary staff for a variety of health policy issues, including diabetes, medical research, drug and medical device development, data sharing and privacy, mental health and health IT policy, and was a lead staff person creating and driving the 21st Century Cures Act. In these roles, Rachel engaged with many external stakeholders to advance legislative and regulatory challenges and coordinate action on items such as legislation, hearings, briefings and letters to congressional leadership and the administration.
