Our Team

Prior to establishing the Firm in 2002, Vicki Hart served as a senior lobbyist and policy advisor and headed the health policy practice for the law firm of Verner Liipfert. Her expertise includes knowledge of health care reform, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, quality, health information technology, and other health-related issues. She has successfully built coalitions to advance health care priorities, including the establishment of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine.

Before moving to the private sector, Ms. Hart was a Presidential fellow and worked for nearly a decade as a senior health policy advisor for two Senate Majority Leaders. In this high-level position, Ms. Hart provided technical and strategic advice to the Senate Majority Leader, members of the United States Senate and their staff.

Ms. Hart holds B.A. (English) and B.S. (Nursing) degrees from Fairfield University and a Masters in Epidemiology and Public Health from the Yale School of Medicine.

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During her time on Capitol Hill, Ms. Ramthun served as Staff Director for the Senate Subcommittee on Public Health, HELP Committee. In this capacity, she managed the regulatory oversight and legislative authorizing responsibility for the many programs within the United States Public Health Service. Ms. Ramthun also was a staff member on the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. She served as health policy advisor to Senator Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN), managed his health policy staff, and staffed a number of congressional conference committees.

Previously, Ms. Ramthun worked with Senator David Durenberger (R-MN), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance where she had primary responsibility for Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, Ms. Ramthun handled health issues for Congressman Bill Frenzel (R-MN), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee.

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Most recently, Tim served as Chief of Staff to Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), where he directed all aspects of legislative strategy, constituent services, press and media relations for the Senator's Washington, D.C., and New Jersey operations. Before working for Senator Lautenberg, Tim spent six years as Chief of Staff to Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), current Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Tim also served as a Legislative Assistant to Rep. Gerald Kleczka (D-WI), who was a Member of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, and he served as an aide to Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), former Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology.

Moving to the private sector in 2007, Tim was named Executive Vice President and General Manager at the Washington office of MWW Group, a mid-size PR firm. There, he managed all office operations and led MWW Group through a dramatic expansion, including several healthcare clients. He joined Hart Health Strategies in 2009.

Tim has also held leadership roles in several local and statewide political campaigns. Before coming to Washington, he served as a volunteer in the United States Peace Corps, serving in Cameroon, West Africa. He graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor's degree in political science and was named Marquette's "Young Alumnus of the Year" in 2005. Tim serves on the Board of Visitors for Marquette's Les Aspin Center for Government. He is also a member of the Governing Board of Rainbows for All Children, an international non-profit that helps grieving children.

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Matt previously served as the Executive Director of a congressional advocacy firm, Prime Advocacy, where he represented the interests of major healthcare trade associations and Fortune 500 companies. In this role, Matt also worked with the founders of an industry-leading PAC fundraising firm. Before Prime Advocacy, he worked on the government relations team at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, where he interfaced with key clients in the healthcare and insurance markets and provided support to the firm's most senior professionals. At the beginning of his career, Matt spent time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Matt received his B.A. in Speech Communication and Political Science from the University of Georgia (UGA). He is a former President of the Washington, DC chapter of the UGA Alumni Association and currently serves as a mentor to students taking part in the University's Washington Semester Program.

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Across her decades-long career in health policy, Ms. Graham has served in multiple roles, including as the Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), where she focused on a variety of regulatory and quality improvement issues for ophthalmic surgeons. Here, she also served as Chair of the Quality and Health Information Technology and Regulatory Committee for the Alliance of Specialty Medicine, and as a staff liaison to the AMA's CPT Editorial Panel and Revalue Value Systems Update Committee (RUC), the National Quality Forum (NQF), Surgical Quality Alliance (SQA), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z80, among others. Ms. Graham also held positions with the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery as a Practice Management Coordinator, where she focused on coding and reimbursement issues, as well as in an acute care hospital billing office and in a physician practice. She also held positions in academia, serving as the Assistant Dean and Program Director for the Health Information Management and Clinical Data Coding (HIM/CDC) Programs at Northern Virginia Community College's (NVCC) Medical Education Campus (MEC), as an adjunct faculty member for the NVCC HIM/CDC program, and most recently, as Chair of the NVCC HIM/CDC Advisory Committee. Ms. Graham is a Past President of the District of Columbia Health Information Management Association (DCHIMA) and currently holds credentials as a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) and Certified Coding Specialist – Physician-based (CCS-P) from the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). She obtained a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in HIM from Stephens College, Columbia, MO. She completed her Six Sigma Green Belt training at Villanova University and earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in 2025.

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Prior to joining the ACS and AAOS, Mr. Jasak was a Director with The Advisory Board Company, a DC-based research and consulting firm serving America's leading hospitals and health systems. He has also worked in various positions in the federal government. He served as a policy and strategy analyst in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Public Affairs, with an emphasis on Medicare payment and budget issues. He has also provided services to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of the General Counsel.

Mr. Jasak received his law degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and he completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan.

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Prior to joining the AANS/CNS, Ms. Groman was a health policy associate for the American College of Physicians (ACP), where she also focused on quality and performance measurement. She also served as a state health policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and a health legislative aide to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).

Ms. Groman earned a Masters in Public Health with a focus on Health Policy from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

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Jess Hart is Counsel at Hart Health Strategies Inc. Prior to joining the firm, Jess worked as a corporate and securities lawyer at Gunderson Dettmer, where she advised private companies in the health tech, software and artificial intelligence sectors. She has previously held legal roles with a focus on opioid litigation and pharmaceutical regulation, including positions with the West Virginia Attorney General and the law firm Cooper & Kirk.

In addition to her work experience, Jess has authored publications on novel regulatory regimes. Her legal thesis "Policing Proof-of-State Networks: Regulatory Challenges Presented by Staking-as-a-Service Providers and the Need for a Tailored Regime" was published in the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review. Her work has been cited by preeminent SEC scholars, as well as SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce in her dissent on the agency's blockchain enforcement actions.

Jess earned her juris doctor from Columbia Law School and her undergraduate degree in government and finance from the College of William & Mary.

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Darcy McLaughlin has over a decade of political experience in advocacy within national healthcare organizations and on Capitol Hill. Before joining Hart Health Strategies Inc., Darcy served as the Director of Advocacy and Professional Relations at the American Association of Endodontists (AAE). In this role, she led the Association's federal affairs, stakeholder engagement, coding and payer policy, strategic planning, and practice management. She also launched and directed the AAE's state and grassroots advocacy programs, enhancing member engagement and elevating the organization's influence at the state and national levels. While at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Darcy managed the Society's political action committee, organized national advocacy conferences, and oversaw federal and state advocacy activities.   During her time on Capitol Hill, Darcy held legislative roles for members of Congress from the Illinois and Pennsylvania delegations. She supported committee work for members on the House Energy and Commerce and Budget Committees, served as staff director for congressional caucuses, and coordinated meetings with federal agencies and stakeholder groups. While she worked on a diverse portfolio of issues, she specialized in healthcare, trade, small business, and appropriations. Darcy also served in advisory positions for three successful congressional campaigns in Colorado, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.   An Illinois native, Darcy holds a B.A. in Political Science and Communication from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She currently splits her time between Washington, DC and Chicago, IL.  

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Melissa Medeiros is the Vice President of Health Systems Innovation and Payment at Hart Health Strategies Inc. Prior to joining Hart Health Strategies Inc., Ms. Medeiros worked at Premier Inc., where she advocated for health care stakeholders on critical issues related to Medicare provider reimbursement, value-based care, and quality improvement. Her efforts were pivotal in helping health care providers navigate and adapt to the complexities of Medicare policies and emerging value-based care models.

Ms. Medeiros previously served in the federal government at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where she analyzed and developed recommendations on major Medicare regulatory and legislative policies. In this capacity, she collaborated with federal stakeholders to oversee and implement Medicare policies concerning hospital payments, coverage, program integrity, and value-based care. Prior to OMB, Ms. Medeiros was a research analyst at Mathematica, where she worked on several research and implementation projects focused on Medicaid and Medicare programs, contributing to a deeper understanding of these critical health care systems.

Ms. Medeiros holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Duke University and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Washington and Lee University with a Bachelor's degree.

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Prior to joining OMB, Ms. Moon held successively increasing leadership positions within the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM), a quasi-public health plan offering publicly-sponsored health coverage for qualifying residents of San Mateo County, California. There, Ms. Moon led HPSM's policy analysis, strategic planning, and business planning related to Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, Medicaid long-term care integration, and indigent care.

Ms. Moon earned her Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley and her Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.

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Ms. Lambert earned her M.P.P. with a concentration in health policy from American University. She joined Hart Health Strategies, Inc. in 2012 after graduating from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg VA, where she received her B.A. in Public Policy and English.

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Eleni interned at Hart Health Strategies Inc. during her undergraduate summers supporting the team in advocating for various healthcare clients.

Eleni holds a Master's in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Political Science from the College of Charleston.

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Andrew's time on Capitol Hill included more than four years as a Health Professional Staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). In that role, he planned more than 20 hearings and drafted or negotiated approximately 50 health policy provisions that were signed into law with bipartisan support.

Among the significant laws Andrew worked on are policies related to maternal health, childhood cancer, substance use disorders, public health data modernization, the healthcare workforce, and community health centers. His proudest achievement was leading the Senate's work on the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271), the 2018 "landmark" legislation to confront the opioid and substance use disorder crisis.

Prior to his work for the Senate HELP Committee, Andrew spent nearly three years working for former Senator Mark Kirk. In that capacity, he advanced the Senator's "stroke agenda," a series of bills introduced after Senator Kirk's 2012 stroke to improve access to, and quality of, rehabilitation services in the United States. Two of those bills were signed into law as part of the 21st Century Cures Act.

Andrew earned a B.A. in political science from Marquette University and currently lives in Seattle with his wife.

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Haley Jeffcoat Casper, MPH, joined the Hart Health Strategies Inc. team in 2026. Prior to joining Hart Health Strategies Inc., Ms. Casper served as a Senior Quality Affairs Associate at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for nearly eight years, where she gained expertise in the development of advocacy strategies related to value-based healthcare delivery, innovative quality measurement and artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health in surgery. During this time, she was instrumental in the advancement of ACS’s policy and advocacy initiatives around value-based healthcare reform and the growth of nationally recognized programs to advance the quality of geriatric surgery. She also led policy development and advocacy initiatives around AI and digital health for the ACS.


Ms. Casper holds a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Promotion from Liberty University. She has continued to expand her knowledge in digital health and AI, most notably receiving a certificate in AI in Healthcare through Harvard Medical School Executive Education.

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Lupe Gonzales, Jr. joined the Hart Health Strategies Inc. team in November 2023 as Director of Operations.

Prior to joining Hart Health Strategies Inc., Mr. Gonzales served as the Director, DC Operations at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), Washington, D.C. office for 26 years. In this role he was responsible for managing day-to-day office operations, monitoring division budgets, implementing employee/office policies, ensuring compliance with regulations, assisting department directors in meeting deadlines, and providing executive assistance to the Division Senior Vice-President.

Prior to ACEP, Lupe was a Consultant Services Assistant at the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, United States Air Force.

Lupe served in the United States Air Force for 14-years; his duty assignments included basic training at Lackland AFB, TX; technical training at Keesler AFB, MS; Howard AFB, Panama; The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.; Persian Gulf War Campaign, Al Kharj & Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Lajes Air Base, Lajes, Portugal. He was also recognized with the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal (2-oak leaf clusters), Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.

While in the service he received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Organizational Management.

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