AdvaMed Payment Policy Forum

Jason Bennett, Director of the Technology, Coding, and Pricing Group, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service

Jason Bennett is the Director of the Technology, Coding, and Pricing Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This Group serves as a focal point for manufacturers to engage with Medicare fee-for-service on coding and payment for new products that Medicare beneficiaries and their clinicians may choose when making their health care decisions. Since joining CMS in 2017, Jason has served in leadership and senior advisor roles on Medicare policy and program issues. Prior to joining CMS, Jason served in a series of progressive management and analytical roles across the Department of Health and Human Services since 2005. His prior roles include serving in the Office of the Secretary, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and as the first-ever chief of staff at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), working on aging and disability policies and programs. His broad range of operational and policy experience includes the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 340B drug discount program, organ transplantation, workforce development and shortage issues, rural health, food and drug regulation, post-acute care and long-term services and supports, end-stage renal disease, the launch of the Medicare Part D program in 2005-2006, and budget formulation and execution.

Ben Finder, Vice President of Coverage Policy, American Hospital Association

Benjamin Finder, M.P.H., is Vice President of Coverage Policy at the American Hospital Association (AHA). He provides policy and data analysis to support the Association in its advocacy efforts and in the development of well-informed policy positions.

Prior to joining the AHA, he was a senior analyst at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a legislative advisory commission that provides policy analysis and makes recommendations to Congress. He has also served as an associate director at the District of Columbia’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Health Care Finance, and as a policy analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he performed data analysis of health expenditures, and trends in employer-sponsored health insurance.

Mr. Finder holds a Master of Public Health from The George Washington University, where he concentrated in health policy and health economics. He received his bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Richard A. Frank, MD, PhD, Principal, Frank Healthcare Advisors, LLC

Zach Hochstetler, Vice President, Coding and Payment, American Medical Association

Zach Hochstetler is the director of CPT Editorial and Regulatory Affairs in the American Medical Association’s Health Solutions business unit. Zach’s work focuses on several key areas that include leading and setting strategic direction for the CPT Editorial Panel and directing the communication of health care policies, through identification and resolution of national payment and reporting problems. He is also the secretary of the CPT Editorial Panel, ensuring that the process remains open and transparent.

Ryan Howe, PhD, Director, CMS/Hospital & Ambulatory Policy Group

Ryan Howe is the Director of the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group in the CMS Center for Medicare. He has previously served in several leadership positions within the Center for Medicare and focused expertise on a wide range of payment issues, including for professional and other ambulatory services, hospital services, telehealth services and Part B drugs.

Julie Khani, Corporate Vice President, Government Affairs and Corporate Communications, Hologic

Julie Khani leads Hologic’s internal and external communications and government affairs strategies, enhancing and protecting the company’s reputation and brand with policymakers, the media, key stakeholders and the general public. She was president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association prior to joining Hologic in 2021. Previously, she served in senior roles at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Ford Motor Company and Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from New York University and a Master of Public Administration from George Washington University.

Brian Lee, JD, MPH, Partner, Alston & Bird LLP

Brian Lee is a partner with Alston & Bird’s Health Care Group and focuses his practice on regulatory and legislative issues concerning federal reimbursement for and regulation of physicians, hospitals, post-acute care providers, insurers, and manufacturers. Brian assists clients in navigating Medicare coverage and reimbursement requirements and Medicare payment policies and provides counsel on the development and implementation of strategic initiatives in response to congressional and administrative coverage and reimbursement changes.

Brian currently serves as legislative and regulatory counsel for state and national health care trade associations, innovative technology manufacturers, and providers and suppliers participating in alternative payment models and delivery system reform initiatives.

Before joining Alston & Bird, Brian served as a consultant for a health care policy research and management consulting firm, where he advised government entities on congressional action and their impact on Medicare, counseled on Medicare reimbursement issues, and developed methods to assess, review, and evaluate alternative payment models, including changes that waive the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law.

Chris Lyle, Partner, JD Lymon 

Josh Makower, MD, MBA, Director, Stanford Biodesign

Josh Makower is the Yock Family Professor of Medicine and Bioengineering at the Stanford University Schools of Medicine and Engineering, and is the Director and Co-Founder of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. Josh is the Founder and Executive Chairman of ExploraMed, a medical device incubator that has created 10 companies over the past 20 years. Lastly, Josh is also a Senior Advisor to Patient Square Capital, and an Advisory Venture Partner with Sofinnova Partners. Josh currently serves on the boards of Elevage, Revelle Aesthetics, ExploraMed, Moximed, Willow, X9 and Coravin.

Josh holds over 300 patents and patent applications for various medical devices in the fields of cardiology, ENT, general surgery, drug delivery, plastic surgery, dermatology, aesthetics, obesity, orthopedics, women’s health, and urology. He received an MBA from Columbia University, an MD from the NYU School of Medicine, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Josh is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of The National Academy of Inventors and The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and was awarded the Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation by the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2018.

Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, Managing Partner, Social Innovation Ventures; Former US Medicaid Chief Medical Officer 

TJ Sutphin, Acting Pharmaceutical & Technology Ombudsman, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Anthony (TJ) Sutphin serves as the acting Medicare Pharmaceutical and Technology Ombudsman (PTO) within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Offices of Hearings & Inquiries (OHI). In this capacity, he also serves as a new technology liaison working closely with colleagues in the Technology, Coding and Pricing Group and other CMS Groups to support engagement with medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology manufacturers and other stakeholders. He has experience with and works to assist medical technology innovators with engaging CMS and addressing coding, payment, and coverage matters/concerns and inquiries. Prior to taking on this role, TJ worked as an Associate Ombudsman providing key support to the Medicare Beneficiary Ombudsman (MBO), Competitive Acquisition Ombudsman (CAO), and PTO in assisting Medicare beneficiaries and other stakeholders.

Tamara Syrek Jensen, JD, Director, Coverage and Analysis Group, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Tamara is the Director of the Coverage and Analysis Group in the Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CAG is responsible for developing evidence based polices such as national coverage determinations (NCDs) and overseeing the local coverage determination process. Tamara leads the CMS collaboration with FDA, including the CMS-FDA parallel review program and the investigational device exemption (IDE) program. To assist in generating evidence for the Medicare population, Tamara is one of the principal authors in creating and implementing coverage with evidence development (CED), an initiative that allows for Medicare coverage while developing evidence through clinical studies, including registries. Tamara was recently awarded the 2022 CMS Executive of the Year.

Elizabeth Truong, MHS, Director of the Division of Policy Coordination and Implementation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Elizabeth Truong is the Director of the Division of Policy Coordination and Implementation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This Division is primarily responsible for providing oversight of Medicare’s local coverage determinations, implementation of national coverage determinations, and rulemaking for national coverage policies. Ms. Truong’s 20 years at CMS includes experience in developing Medicare payment policies to reimburse hospitals and clinicians (the Inpatient Prospective Payment System, the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System, and the Physician Fee Schedule) as well as leading the development and implementation of innovative payment models that bundled hospital and physician reimbursement to better align payment incentives. She also served as the Director for the Budget and Audit Division at CMS’ Innovation Center.