Professional Affiliation

Senior Vice President, Health Policy, American Benefits Council

Expert Bio

Kathryn (Katy) Spangler is senior vice president, health policy, for the American Benefits Council. In this role, Spangler directs the development and advocacy of The Council’s health policy priorities. Spangler also serves on the Advisory Board to The University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design.

Spangler has distinctive knowledge and extensive understanding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), having served as deputy health policy director of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee during the health care reform debate. In this role, she successfully negotiated one of the few unanimously accepted, bipartisan amendments to the health care law giving employers greater flexibility to vary health benefits for employees participating in wellness programs.

She was the primary drafter of the first health information technology bill to pass the U.S. Senate. Spangler also negotiated one of the few bipartisan, unanimously accepted amendments to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the stimulus law). She briefly served as the Director of the American Health Information Community within the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Most recently, Spangler cofounded VBID Health, a consulting company that specializes in designing and promoting health benefit plans and payment. She also served as a Senior Advisor to The University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design.

Spangler earned a bachelor's degree in economics from The University of Tulsa.