Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Here's whom to watch for health care policy roles in a second Trump administration — and who could help shape the advance planning as the general election gets underway.
Brian Blase, president, Paragon Health Institute
He's a former health policy staffer in the Trump White House, where he served as special assistant to the president for economic policy.
- Paragon has been putting out papers on a range of health policy ideas that could be implemented in a second Trump term, including site-neutral payments and Medicare Advantage overhauls.
Theo Merkel, director of the private health reform initiative at Paragon and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute
He was a special assistant to the president for economic policy following Blase, at the National Economic Council at the White House under Trump.
- In that role, he worked on Trump's health care transparency executive order.
- Previously, he worked for Sen. Pat Toomey, including as legislative director.
Joe Grogan, senior fellow, USC Schaeffer Center
He served as director of the Domestic Policy Council in the White House under Trump.
- He was heavily involved in drug pricing policy while in the White House, including talks with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, though the White House ended up distancing itself from the Democratic measure.
Brooke Rollins, CEO, America First Policy Institute
Rollins was director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House after Grogan, and now heads the Trump-aligned think tank AFPI that includes many of his former staffers.
- She was previously head of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an influential conservative think tank.
Charlie Katebi, deputy director for the Center for a Healthy America at AFPI
He was previously a senior policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity and has been active in promoting site-neutral policies.
Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy, Heritage Foundation
He's the author of the health care section of Heritage's Project 2025.
- He was the head of the HHS Office of Civil Rights under Trump, where he focused heavily on religious freedom issues.
