The McCormick Group is pleased to have assisted Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies, the bipartisan government relations and communications affiliate of international law firm Cozen O’Connor, in the addition of Rodney Whitlock, Debbie Curtis, Katie Waldo, and Maddie News to the firm’s federal health policy practice in Washington, D.C.
“Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies has built one of Washington’s leading bipartisan health policy practices, helping clients navigate and shape health care legislation and regulations,” said Alexandra Campau, health policy chair and managing director of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies. “The addition of Debbie, Rodney, Katie, and Maddie — true giants in health care policy — expands our reach and depth across complex health care coverage, financing, and access policy and further strengthens our ability to anticipate policy shifts, shape outcomes, and help clients to navigate the evolving health care environment.”
The team joins Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies’ five-person federal health policy practice from McDermott+, the health care government relations affiliate of McDermott Will & Schulte. Their collective experience spans senior roles on Capitol Hill and congressional committees, health policy advisory bodies, and leading health care advocacy organizations, providing clients with strategic guidance on legislative, regulatory, and reimbursement issues affecting the health care sector.
Debbie Curtis joins Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as a managing director. Curtis brings more than three decades of experience on Capitol Hill and in the health insurance exchange marketplace to the firm. Curtis previously served 24 years as a congressional staffer, most recently as chief of staff to Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and as a professional staff member on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, where she was a key staffer in the development of the Affordable Care Act. She later helped establish and operate DC Health Link as a founding team member at the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority.
Rodney Whitlock joins Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as a managing director. With more than three decades of government and private-sector experience, Whitlock advises clients on complex Medicare and Medicaid issues with significant business implications, drawing on more than two decades on Capitol Hill, where he served as health policy director to then-Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and as the lead Republican staffer for Medicaid legislation, including the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Affordable Care Act.
Katie Waldo joins Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as a senior principal. Focused on navigating complex federal and state issues, including Medicaid coverage, payment and financing issues, Medicare, and the 340B Drug Pricing Program, Waldo represents clients before Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services. Waldo previously served as a senior analyst at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, focusing on managed care, payment and access, behavioral health, home- and community-based services, and dually eligible beneficiaries, and as a health policy fellow in Sen. Grassley’s office.
Maddie News joins Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies as a government relations associate. News helps clients navigate the evolving federal health care landscape by tracking and analyzing key legislative and regulatory developments to support clients’ advocacy goals. News previously served as senior program associate for Medicaid policy at the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, working on federal legislative and regulatory issues on behalf of safety net health plans.
In announcing the deal, Howard Schweitzer, CEO of Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies said that “Debbie, Rodney, Katie, and Maddie are among the most respected health policy professionals in Washington, bringing decades of experience across Congress, federal agencies, advocacy organizations, and the private sector,” adding that “[t]heir deep expertise in Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal health care programs, combined with their strong bipartisan relationships and strategic insight, further strengthens our health policy practice and enhances our ability to help clients navigate an increasingly complex legislative and regulatory environment.”
Created just over a decade ago, and wholly-owned by Cozen O’Connor, a top 100 law firm, Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies is a lobbying and public affairs firm with top tier practices in Washington, D.C. and – notably – in politically important state and local markets. CPS works alongside the largest state attorneys general practice in the country, supplemented by a robust governor’s practice.
Based in the Washington DC area, The McCormick Group provides executive search and consulting services for a broad range of companies and disciplines. The company has been perennially recognized by the National Law Journal for its Legal and Law Firm Management practices.
The placement was handled by:
David Ris
Principal
(703) 202-391-8800 | dris@tmg-dc.com
Stacey Levy Russin
Consultant
(703) 389-3035 I srussin@tmg-dc.com
