Legislative and Policy Update

Feldpush provides strategic leadership and advocacy on behalf of hospitals and health systems that care for vulnerable people and provide vital services to communities. She directs the association’s federal government affairs portfolio, policy development activities, and internal and external communications. She also manages the association’s participation in and leadership of coalitions and allied organization activities, acting as a liaison to other stakeholder organizations.

Feldpush previously served as a senior associate director for policy at the American Hospital Association (AHA), where she worked on health care delivery system reform and hospital quality and patient safety issues. She served as an AHA expert on value-based purchasing, hospital readmissions, accountable care organizations, and other issues.

Before joining AHA, Feldpush worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, as a senior health care analyst. Her work focused on Medicare payment policy, end-of-life care, geographic variation in service delivery, and health care workforce adequacy. She led research teams on several high-profile published reports.

Feldpush also has worked as manager of governmental affairs and public relations at the American Medical Women’s Association. In this role, she served as the association’s liaison to Congress, the executive office, federal agencies, and state and local governments.

In 2013, Modern Healthcare magazine recognized Feldpush as an “Up & Comer.” She serves as adjunct faculty for The George Washington University (GW) Milken Institute School of Public Health Department of Health Policy. She also is a reviewer for the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Feldpush has a doctorate of public health in health policy from GW, a masters of public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in women’s health from the University of Richmond.

Pray brings more than 24 years of legislative, political, and grassroots experience to America’s Essential Hospitals as vice president of legislative affairs. In this role, he leads the association’s federal legislative strategy and advocacy activities and political action committee.

Before joining America’s Essential Hospitals, Pray served in multiple leadership positions with BlueCross BlueShield Association, most recently as executive director of congressional relations, in Washington, D.C. He also led lobbying, political, and grassroots activities for 13 years at the 35,000-member American Psychiatric Association, also in Washington.

In addition to his professional activities, Pray serves as a volunteer and advisory board member for three Washington-area charities: the Belfast-Beltway Boxing Project; The First Tee of Greater