Guide Consulting Services

President & CEO

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HEALTH POLICY

 

With more than three decades of experience in health public policy and government relations, Al is a top strategic thinker in the field. He is adept at advancing legislation and public policy and impacting government and regulatory issues. Most notably, Al secured $15 million funding for Mental Health First Aid and the 2014 inclusion of the Excellence in Mental Health Act during a period when few mental health legislations were passed.

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Additionally, he has secured four amendments in both the Senate Finance Committee and House Energy & Commerce Committee including amendments for medical homes and structure of insurance exchange benefits. Al also led Medicaid Reform by initiating a mental health, disability and child welfare coalition in 2007 to stop $6 billion in Medicaid funding cuts as well as worked with Eli Lilly Co. to insert strong language into a veterans spending bill, prohibiting the Department of Veterans Affairs from instituting policies and procedures that restricted access to vital medicines for veterans with severe mental illness.

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MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY

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Before starting Guide Consulting Services, Al served as the Executive Director of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign, (NMHAC), which addressed the stigma associated with mental illness. Prior to the Campaign, Al served as Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy at the National Mental Health Association – now called Mental Health America – where he coordinated state and federal government affairs and helped to start NMHA’s State Health Care Reform Department.

 

In his seven-year tenure, he fought for mental health parity legislation, Medicaid expansions, the inclusion of mental health care in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and additional federal funding for the Children’s Mental Health Services Program.

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