Oral history interview with Elizabeth Fowler, 2020
Abstract
Elizabeth Fowler reflects on her involvement in healthcare policy reform efforts, to which she contributed as chief health counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, deputy director of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Consumer Information and Oversight, and special assistant to the president for healthcare and economic policy at the National Economic Council ( NEC). Fowler focuses on the negotiations that led to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and provides details about key policy components of the bill and the major legislative and political hurdles necessary to secure its passage, including Baucus' efforts to build bipartisan support within the Finance Committee, the relationship between Congress and industry stakeholders, negotiations between House and Senate Democrats, public opposition to healthcare reform, and the role of the White House in managing policy disagreements within the Democratic caucus. At HHS and on the NEC, Fowler worked on the implementation of the ACA, and she discusses the challenges associated with building complex new regulatory infrastructure, including healthcare.gov and the health insurance exchanges. Also discussed are the difficulties of messaging clearly and effectively around healthcare policy, the administrative burden of Republican opposition to the ACA, and the effects of the 2012 National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius decision on the expansion of insurance coverage to Americans in precarious economic circumstances
Presidents--United States; Communication policy--United States; Health care reform--Public opinion--United States; Health insurance exchanges--United States; Fowler, Elizabeth Jean; Obama, Barack; Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (U.S.); United States. Congress; United States. Department of Health and Human Services; United States; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2020
Physical Description
77 pages
Note (Biographical)
Elizabeth Fowler served in several capacities in the Obama administration, including deputy director of the Office of Consumer Information and Oversight at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and special assistant to the president for hea lthcare and economic policy at the National Economic Council. Before joining the administration, Fowler served as chief health counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus. In 2021, she was appointed by President Biden to serve as director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Department of Health and Human Services
Note
Interviewed by Dov Weinryb Grohsgal on December 28, 2020. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Elizabeth Fowler, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023