Heather Foster serves as ACAP’s Vice President for Marketplace Policy, where she leads the Association’s policy and advocacy efforts related to the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces—particularly policies to help stabilize the individual market through ensuring affordability and comprehensiveness of coverage. Heather recently led ACAP’s successful fight to protect consumers from short-term, limited-duration insurance plans masquerading as comprehensive coverage.
Before joining ACAP in 2015, she served as the Deputy Director of Federal Affairs at the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). Her portfolio included federal legislative and regulatory policy focused on Medicaid financing as well as contracting and payment policies for Community Health Centers participating in Qualified Health Plan networks.
Previously, Heather was a Congressional Fellow with the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and served as Senior Health Policy Advisor for Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), then-Vice Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Heather represented Congresswoman DeGette throughout the development of the Affordable Care Act, with a particular focus on children’s coverage and development of the Health Insurance Marketplaces. Notably, she was also responsible for the Congresswoman’s landmark work on stem cell research, leading to an Executive Order protecting the research.
Heather began her career in health policy by working in the Office of Child Advocacy at Children’s Hospital, Boston, where she worked on Medicaid-focused topics affecting children. She also spent many years as a Board Member for a Community Health Center in Washington, DC. She received her M.P.H. in Health Policy from George Washington University, where she was named their Distinguished Scholar in Health Policy. Heather received her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development from Tufts University with a public policy minor of Law & Society.