Speaker Bio
Rodney Whitlock is a veteran health care policy professional with more than 20 years of experience working with the U.S. Congress. He served as health policy advisor and as Acting Health Policy Director for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and on the staff of former U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.). During his years with Rep. Norwood, he managed the Patients’ Bill of Rights, which passed the House in 1999 and 2001. In February 2005, he left the office of Rep. Norwood to join the Finance Committee staff as a health policy advisor to Chairman Grassley. In that capacity, he was lead Senate Republican staffer for Medicaid legislation from 2005 to 2010, including the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, the CHIP Reauthorization Acts of 2007 and 2009, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. He continued to serve Sen. Grassley through 2015, working on all health-related issues. In 2007, he worked on the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act. He spent 2009 and 2010 deeply engaged in health system reform legislation. Late in 2010, he became the Acting Health Policy Director for Sen. Grassley and shepherded the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 into law. Following his tenure in Sen. Grassley’s congressional office, he served as Health Policy Director in the senator’s personal office.