President & Chief Executive officer

Better Medicare Alliance

Allyson Y. Schwartz, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania who served from 2005-2015, is a nationally recognized leader on healthcare issues. Throughout her professional life she has worked on issues such as affordability, primary care, coordinated care, and increased access to coverage. Having worked as a health service executive, Schwartz was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1990, serving 14 years until her election to Congress. In the state Senate, Schwartz was the driving force behind Pennsylvania’s CHIP program, which was a model for the federal CHIP program five years later. In Congress, Schwartz was appointed to the powerful Ways and Means committee in her second term and served as a senior member of the Budget Committee. In both capacities, Schwartz was a strong advocate for Medicare. She was the leader in Congress on physician payment reform to encourage value over volume, supported research, innovation, and use of technology to improve quality, efficiency, and contain costs. Schwartz was instrumental in the passage of landmark health reform legislation, authoring key provisions such as the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions for children and increased access to primary care. Schwartz serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as being a member of the Advisory Board, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School “Penn Wharton Budget Model”. Schwartz is a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Advisory Board, participates in an advisory group to Avalere Health’s Patient-Perspective Value Framework and serves as a member of RAND’s Technical Expert Panel on the Medicare Advantage Stars Rating System, She is on the Board of Trustees, Einstein Health, Philadelphia and served as Co-Chair of the Health and Housing for Seniors Task Force of the Bipartisan Policy Center, where she also frequently participates in roundtable discussions on the future of Medicare. Schwartz earned a B.A. from Simmons College, and a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College. She is married, has two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, and a 6-year-old granddaughter.