Panel 4: Health Policy Academy Deep Dive: Unlocking Expertise of Congressional Agencies

Melanie Anne Egorin is a nationally recognized strategic and innovative health policy expert with over 25 years of experience, including as a Senate-confirmed HHS executive. Dr. Egorin most recently served as the Assistant Secretary for Legislation (ASL) at HHS during the Biden-Harris Administration. As ASL, Dr. Egorin served as principal advisor to the Secretary and other senior leaders at HHS with respect to all aspects of the Department's legislative agenda and Congressional liaison activities. Prior to being confirmed by the Senate to serve as ASL, Dr. Egorin was the Deputy Staff Director for the Health Subcommittee and professional tax staff for the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. Egorin started her federal career as a Senior Analyst at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) focusing on a range of public payer health policy issues. Throughout her career, Dr. Egorin has been recognized for her collaborative work style, bipartisan leadership, and mentorship. She holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Emory University and a Ph.D. from the University of California San Francisco. Originally from Baltimore, Dr. Egorin lives in Washington, DC with her husband, 2 children, and dog.

Ms. Leslie V. Gordon is a Director at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) where she leads the agency’s work overseeing the Medicare program. Most recently, Leslie has led work on Medicare Advantage, hospital price transparency, limb loss, ESRD, private equity ownership of nursing homes, and telehealth, use of supplemental nurses, and oversight of Medicare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. She joined GAO in 2000 and her work on Medicare payments and Medicare and Medicaid program integrity helped prompt agency and congressional actions that resulted in federal savings in the billions of dollars. Prior to joining GAO, Leslie was a Project Director and Research Instructor at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. Leslie holds a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. Leslie is also a caregiver for aged and disabled family members and an avid hiker.

Jim Mathews joined Health Policy Alternatives (HPA) in January 2024, after a 30-year Federal career in health policy. Prior to joining HPA, Jim was Executive Director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) from 2017 to 2023, after having served for nearly a decade as the Commission’s Deputy Director. In these leadership roles, Jim provided policy advice and analysis to the Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that informed the development of major pieces of Medicare legislation and regulation. MedPAC’s recommendations under Jim’s leadership helped shape changes to Medicare’s payment policies for drugs, hospitals, and post-acute care providers contained in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the new rural emergency hospital designation in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, and the restructuring of the Medicare Part D benefit in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. He is also a recognized national expert on Medicare Advantage. Jim has held a variety of management and analytic positions throughout his career in health policy, having served with the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, the Office of Management and Budget, and CMS. Jim was named one of Modern Healthcare’s 100 most influential people in health care in 2021 and 2022. He earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago. He holds a SCUBA Rescue Diver certification from the National Association of Underwater Instructors.