John Brooks is the Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Drug Pricing Reform at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Principal Deputy Director for the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). At HHS, Mr. Brooks coordinates the Department’s efforts on reducing prescription drug prices, focusing on improving competition, lowering list prices, addressing foreign free-riding, and reducing out-of-pocket costs for all Americans as described in the Administration’s Blueprint for drug pricing reform. Additionally, at CMS, Mr. Brooks is the Principal Deputy of the Center for Medicare, which oversees the Medicare Fee-For-Service, Medicare Advantage, and Medicare Part D Programs.

Previously, Mr. Brooks has served as the health policy advisor for the White House Domestic Policy Council for CMS issues, and as the Counselor for Health Policy to the HHS Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to that, he was the Department Head for Health Policy at the MITRE Corporation, overseeing a team that worked with federal agencies across the federal government to develop and implement health policy. John has a JD from the University Of Virginia School Of Law, an MBA from Virginia Tech, and a BS from Franciscan University.

Amanda Forys, MSPH, is the Senior Director of Policy, Pricing, and Reimbursement at United Therapeutics. Her experience includes reimbursement policy analytics, with emphases on Medicare and commercial coverage and payment policy. Her work has covered a wide range of topics, including chronic disease management, post-acute care, long-term care, mental health, and specialty services.

Ms. Forys has focused on policy analysis through claims data and cost reports, as well as payment system modeling, budget scoring, and chronic disease studies. Prior to joining United Therapeutics in 2018, she worked at Xcenda, The Moran Company, The National Association for Home Care & Hospice, and The Lewin Group. Ms. Forys serves as a national speaker on healthcare, and has presented at numerous health and policy conferences. Ms. Forys has also presented findings of research to members of Congress, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Federal budget offices, and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).

Ms. Forys received her Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a concentration in health policy and administration. During this time, she completed an internship with the Government Accountability Office's healthcare team. She received a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Biopsychology and Cognitive Sciences and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.

Jeff Myers has been involved in the creation of health care policy for nearly 30 years, starting his career as a Capital Hill staffer during the consideration of President Clinton’s Health Security Act. During his tenure, he wrote amendments addressing DSH payments, Part B coverage, and significant changes to FDA approval rules for products exported from the United States.

In the last 20 years, Jeff has worked the “trifecta” of health care – life sciences, providers, and payors. The constant in this experience with drug and biotech companies, skilled nursing facilities and public payor insurers is that reimbursement drives changes in our health care environment. With more than 50% of the American population now covered by taxpayer funded healthcare, this reimbursement issue will only become even more important.

Stephen E. Perkins, MD, serves as the Chief Medical Officer, Commercial & Medicare Services for UPMC Health Plan. As a member of Health Plan’s senior management team, Dr. Perkins provides clinical leadership for all Quality Improvement, Medical Management , and Provider Network Development activities. In addition, he oversees UPMC Health Plan Community Health Initiatives with UPMC as an integrated finance and delivery system.

Previously Dr. Perkins serviced as Vice President of Medical Affairs and Senior Medical Director for UPMC Health Plan. In that position, he provided strategic and clinical leadership and medical oversight for the Health Plan’s commercial products and served as senior medical director for UPMC WorkPartners’ suite of workers’ compensation, employee assistance, health promotion, and health management products.

Prior to joining the Health Plan in 2010, Dr. Perkins served for 12 years as corporate medical director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the largest Vermont-based health coverage carrier. His 30 years in the health care field also included 13 years as a family physician in South Charleston, W.Va.

Dr. Perkins received his undergraduate degree in biology from West Virginia University and his M.D. from the WVU School of Medicine in Morgantown. He completed his residency in Family Practice at Kanawha Valley Family Practice Center in South Charleston, W. Va.

Matt is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales and Market Access for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Matt is responsible for leading the Account Management, Trade, Contracting and MM Marketing Teams at Sunovion. In addition to his Market Access responsibilities Matt leads Sunovion’s Respiratory, Psychiatry, Neurology and Institutional Sales Teams.

Prior to this position Matt was Vice President of Commercial Model Innovation at Pfizer. He and his team were responsible for evolving Pfizer’s Business Model to meet the rapidly evolving needs of Health Care Providers and Organizations in the US.

Debbie Walters-Francique is Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Pfizer Inc. and is the Legal lead for the Commercial Solutions Platform Legal team who support: Organized Customers, Government Pricing and Government Contracting functions, Patient, Health & Impact which includes HEOR functions, Account Management and Sales functions, Global Trade Controls and various Strategy, Commercial and Medical Operations groups as well as advisory and counseling related to drug pricing transparency.

In addition to supporting day-to-day activities related to the above functions Mrs. Walters-Francique also provides expertise and counsel to a broad range of clients across the entire organization related to the federal and state Anti-Kickback laws, as well as provide key strategic support into the development and evolution of field commercial and medical roles and interactions. She has been with Pfizer since 2000.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Mrs. Walters-Francique was in private practice with the law firm of Shearman & Sterling in their Mergers & Acquisition Group.