Ron Pollack, JD is Chair Emeritus and Founding Executive Director of Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers. Families USA's mission is to achieve high quality, affordable health coverage and care for everyone in the U.S.
Mr. Pollack’s work at Families USA resulted in his receiving various honors. The Hill, a publication serving members of Congress and their staffs, named him one of the nine top nonprofit lobbyists. Modern Healthcare named him one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare. National Journal named him one of the top 25 players in Congress, the Administration, and the lobbying community on Medicare prescription drug benefits. And from Search for Common Ground, a nationally renowned conflict management organization, he received the “Common Ground” co-award for his work with ideologically diverse health organizations that reached an historic consensus about expanded health coverage for the uninsured, a key prelude to the ACA; previous year winners of the award included former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Muhammad Ali.
After the adoption of the ACA, Mr. Pollack founded and served as Board Chair of the time-limited organization Enroll America – the national organizational leader promoting optimal enrollment in health coverage through the ACA for uninsured people. The organization created a collaborative among thousands of organizations across the country to help enroll millions of people into private or public health insurance.
Prior to his position at Families USA, Mr. Pollack was the Dean of the Antioch University School of Law, the nationally noted law school for public interest lawyers.
In 1997, Mr. Pollack was appointed the sole consumer representative on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry. In that capacity, Mr. Pollack helped prepare the Patients’ Bill of Rights that has been enacted by many states across the nation.
Mr. Pollack was also the Founding Executive Director of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), the national leading organization seeking the elimination of domestic hunger. In that capacity, Mr. Pollack argued many cases in federal courts -– including two cases successfully argued on the same day in the U.S. Supreme Court -– to improve food aid to low-income Americans. One of Mr. Pollack’s successful lawsuits resulted in the creation of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children – the so-called “WIC Program” that provides high-nutrient foods for pregnant mothers and infants.
Mr. Pollack received his law degree from New York University where he was the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow.