Tevi Troy is the President of the American Health Policy Institute. He is also the author of the best-selling book, What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House. He is a frequent television and radio analyst, and has appeared on Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, and The NewsHour, among other outlets.
On August 3, 2007, Dr. Troy was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Deputy Secretary, Dr. Troy was the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government, with a budget of $716 billion and over 67,000 employees. In that position, he oversaw all operations, including Medicare, Medicaid, public health, medical research, food and drug safety, welfare, child and family services, disease prevention, and mental health services. He served as the regulatory policy officer for HHS, overseeing the development and approval of all HHS regulations and significant guidance. In addition, he led a number of initiatives at HHS, including implementing the President's Management Agenda, combating bio-terrorism, and public health emergency preparedness. He also sponsored a series of key conferences on improving HHS’ role with respect to innovation in the pharmaceutical, biomedical, and medical device industries. Dr. Troy has led U.S. government delegations to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Africa.
Jewish Americans have more interest groups per capita than any other ethnicity in America. So many Jewish groups inundated the Eisenhower White House that John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s Secretary of State, asked that the Jewish groups create a single umbrella organization representing all of them. While the Jewish groups complied, the effect of this was to create yet one more representative of the America Jewish community. Audiences will learn why Jewish Americans have such an outsized influence in both political parties, and why it matters from a policy perspective.
As Theodore Roosevelt observed, the White House is a “bully pulpit,” and very little happens in Washington without the White House weighing in on a subject. While Congress and the Executive Agencies may set the policies, the White House sets the tone for the discussions in which these decisions are made. Understanding — and influencing — this dynamic is crucial to getting the right results. Audiences will learn about how ideas flow into and out of the White House, and how decisions get made there on a daily basis.
American presidents are in many ways the product of their cultural influences. As media technologies have shifted over time, we have gone from a society where the main forms of entertainment were books and live theater to an era with a nearly infinite array of entertainment options. While the Founders were immersed in books and great ideas, Dwight Eisenhower loved I Love Lucy, and Barack Obama tweets and podcasts. This technological and cultural shift has exacerbated the classic tension between the president as an enlightened leader ruling over an educated populace — the vision of the founders — and the democratic need to have our leaders represent the common man and his interests.
The Federal government makes or breaks all new health care technologies. Whether your product is a drug, device, diagnostic, or countermeasure, the federal government will have a role in the development, approval, reimbursement, and or procurement of the product. Audiences will learn about the various ways the federal government views different technologies, and some suggested strategies for getting the federal government to view their products more favorably.
What are the real prospects for health care reform? What opportunities will the attendant battles present? Understanding these questions and coming up with answers requires a combination of a strong understanding of the history of health care policy and senior level experience at both the legislative and executive levels. Audiences will learn what role government plays in our health care system, and how top-level government officials make important decisions that affect all of our lives.
