Photo: Peter Sullivan/Axios
Covering health policy doesn't always have to be 100% serious. So we're sitting down for some fun Q&A's with health care policy wonks around town.
- Our debut guest is Adam Buckalew, better known as "Buck," founder of strategic advisory firm Alb Solutions and a former staffer for Senate HELP and House E&C Republicans.
Go-to lunch spot on the Hill? Junction.
Best celeb sighting on the Hill? I was there when Michael Phelps testified at Energy and Commerce ... We all got pictures with him.
What's the latest you ever stayed at the office? For repeal and replace, we had a 27-hour and 27-minute markup, so it was all the way through the night ...
- Did not leave. Got there to gavel in for the markup and left at like 3 o'clock in the afternoon the next day.
- And the White House asked for a meeting at 3:30, so we did a conference call after being up all night to talk about the next steps. I took that call walking the dog with a coffee cup full of red wine.
Favorite bar on the Hill, and what do you order there? I drink wine so ... the classic is Bullfeathers ... But if I want to actually go drink wine with somebody I like to go to The Eastern. They have a good selection.
Cups or Longworth Dunkin? Cups. Interned in the Senate, ended in the Senate. It's the best on the Hill.
What's a good TV show you watched lately? I really like "White Lotus."
What's an under-noticed issue in health care? Very few understand the complexities of employer-sponsored health insurance, I think it's under-appreciated.
Best health care negotiator? Larry Bucshon. Strongly held views but knows how to compromise ... He knows where both Democratic and Republican members are and works towards a pragmatic outcome.
Do you want to be our next guest? Email us! This one was at Ted's Bulletin, but we can change it up as well.
