Please join us for lunch on October 27th from 12:00-1:00pm for our upcoming Congressional Health Policy Education Program event in CVC-217. Chick-fil-A lunch will be provided. Please feel free to share this invite with any health care staffer you think would be interested.
This event will be the follow-up in a series on drug pricing and will focus on supply-side issues affecting the debate. The event will be hosted by Theo Merkel, who will be joined by special guest Lowell Schiller.
Theo Merkel is the Director of the Private Health Reform Initiative and a Senior Research Fellow for the Paragon Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Previously, Theo served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the White House (2019-2020). In addition to his work in the executive branch, Theo worked for his home state Senator Pat Toomey for a decade, most recently as Legislative Director.
During his time in the White House, Theo had a wide-ranging portfolio that included Medicare, Medicaid, the commercial market, and drug pricing reform. He oversaw the development and implementation of several key presidential initiatives to improve competition, efficiency, and access in health care including Executive Order 13877, Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First.
Lowell Schiller is the Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer of Aetion.
Previously, Lowell served in several senior leadership roles at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, most recently as the Principal Associate Commissioner for Policy. In this role, Lowell led FDA’s Office of Policy, managed agency-wide development of regulations and guidance, and provided policy leadership on cross-cutting and high-profile issues across FDA’s jurisdiction. Earlier in his tenure at FDA, Lowell served as FDA’s Acting Chief Counsel and as the Senior Counselor to the Commissioner.
Prior to joining FDA, Lowell served as Senior Counsel to Chairman Lamar Alexander on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Lowell’s work for the HELP Committee included conducting congressional investigations and other oversight, as well as helping enact legislation including the 21st Century Cures Act.
