John Brooks is a Deputy Administrator and the Chief Policy and Regulatory Officer for CMS. He was most recently a founder and partner at South Capitol, a health policy research and consulting firm. Prior to that, John held multiple senior health executive positions across the Executive Branch, including Senior Advisor for Drug Pricing Reform to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Principal Deputy Director of the Center for Medicare at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Counselor to the HHS Secretary for Health Policy, and Health Policy Advisor at the White House Domestic Policy Council. John also led the HHS Landing Team, which coordinated the transition between administrations with respect to the Department of Health & Human Services. Prior to government service, John led the Health Policy Department at the MITRE Corporation, providing policy advice and regulatory support to federal health agencies, including CMS, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. John holds a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and an MBA from Virginia Tech.

Abe Sutton serves as the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and Deputy Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Before assuming this role in January of 2025, he was a Principal at Rubicon Founders where he co-founded two health service companies; Honest Health, which focuses on enabling primary care physicians, and Evergreen Nephrology, which focuses on enabling nephrologists. Sutton focused on health policy with the federal government from 2017 to 2019, serving at the National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council and Department of Health and Human Services. In these roles, he coordinated health policy across the federal government, with a focus on the shift to paying-for-value within Medicare, increasing choice and competition in health care markets, and updating the federal government’s approach to kidney care.

Sutton started his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he worked with clients in the health sector. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and undergraduate degrees in political science, management, and health care management and policy from the Wharton School and the College at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2018, he was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for Law and Policy.

Matt Hittle is a Professional Staff Member at the House Ways & Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee. He advises Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Committee Members on Medicare Parts A and B, as well as Medicare Advantage, and leads Chairman Smith’s rural health care access initiative. Matt is a native of Sioux City, Iowa and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Dakota. He began his career at the Ways & Means Committee. He then he joined the Office of then-Representative Kristi Noem (R-SD), a Ways & Means Member. After Rep. Noem left Congress, Matt served as Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Following his time in the administration, Matt briefly left public service to join multinational law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he consulted and lobbied for a range of health care clients. Matt rejoined the Ways & Means Committee staff under Chairman Smith in 2023. He resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife and three young children.

John Knapp serves as Vice President, Advocacy in Premier's Washington, DC office. In this role, John serves as the primary contact for Premier with Capitol Hill lawmakers. With more than 20 years of experience in healthcare advocacy, John advances policy proposals to support the transformation to high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. Prior to joining Premier, John worked for the Children’s Hospital Association and the firm of O’Neill, Athy & Casey. John is a graduate of Connecticut College and the University of Texas at Austin.

Somaieh McMullan is a Senior Director of Payment Policy and responsible for Premier’s advocacy strategy for hospital payment policies and expansion of value-based care (VBC). For over a decade, Somaieh has designed and implemented VBC payment models for public and private payers.