Keeping Kids and Moms Healthy: Family Health is a Women’s Economic Issue

Congresswoman Lauren Underwood serves Illinois’ 14th Congressional District and was sworn into the 116th U.S. Congress on January 3, 2019. Congresswoman Underwood is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. She is also the youngest African American woman to serve in the United States House of Representatives. Congresswoman Underwood serves on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the House Committee on Appropriations. Congresswoman Underwood co-founded and co-chairs the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which elevates the Black maternal health crisis within Congress and advances policy solutions to improve maternal health outcomes and end disparities. She also serves on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Rep. Underwood is a member of the Future Forum, a group of young Democratic Members of Congress committed to listening to and standing up for the next generation of Americans, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the LGBT Equality Caucus. As a strong supporter of addressing the gun violence epidemic, Congresswoman Underwood is a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Prior to her election to Congress, Congresswoman Underwood worked with a Medicaid plan in Chicago to ensure that it provided high-quality, cost-efficient care. She served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), helping communities across the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to disasters, bioterror threats, and public health emergencies. As a career public servant at HHS, she helped implement the Affordable Care Act — broadening access for those on Medicare, improving health care quality, and reforming private insurance. Congresswoman Underwood also taught future nurse practitioners through Georgetown University’s online master’s program. Congresswoman Underwood is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University. She graduated from Neuqua Valley High School and is a lifelong Girl Scout. She resides in Naperville, Illinois.

Justine Handelman is senior vice president of the Office of Policy and Representation for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a national federation of 35 independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. The BCBS System is the nation's largest health insurer, covering one-in-three of all Americans. In overseeing BCBSA lobbying and policy development activities, Handelman represents BCBSA's Washington office and BCBS companies with the Administration, Congress, government agencies and other national associations. This includes development of legislative and regulatory policy positions and legislative strategy on a wide range of issues, including healthcare reform, government programs, healthcare financing, tax legislation and health information technology. Handelman has more than 25 years of experience in providing strategic analysis, policy development and federal representation on legislative, regulatory and federal policy issues pertaining to public and private healthcare. During her tenure, she has developed key policy positions that were incorporated in legislation enacted by Congress on key healthcare issues, including Medicare Modernization Act, the Affordable Care Act, legislation to prevent opioid abuse and legislation to address mental health parity. Prior to joining BCBSA in 2001, Handelman was the director of the Health Care Practice Group in the Government Relations Division of SmithBucklin. In this capacity, she was responsible for the day-to-day government relations activities for several non-profit professional medical specialty societies and healthcare organizations. Prior to joining the Smith, Bucklin team, she served as a senior legislative associate of MARC Associates, Inc. Handelman received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the Catholic University of America and serves on the board of directors for URAC.

Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FABC, CPE, CMQ, FAAPL is Department Chair for Department of Family & Community Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Temple University Hospital, Associate Professor of Family & Community Medicine and Urban Bioethics, Chief Quality Officer for the Temple Faculty Practice Plan and Program Director for the Temple University Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. She is an attending physician at Temple University Hospital (Philadelphia, PA) and Christiana Care Health System (Wilmington, DE). She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2002, completed Family Medicine Residency Program at the Crozer-Keystone Family Medicine Residency Program (Springfield, PA) in 2005 and graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2008 with a Masters degree in Public Health in Public Health Leadership with a focus on Public Health Practice. She is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, the Certifying Commission in Medical Management, and a Fellow of the Advisory Board Company.