SPEAKERS

Clifton Porter, II

Incoming President and CEO of AHCA/NCAL

Clifton (Clif) Porter, II is the Incoming President and CEO of the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), which represents more than 14,000 for-and not-for-profit nursing homes, assisted living communities, and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Porter has been serving the needs of seniors in the long-term care field for over 34 years, beginning his career as an administrator in training at a skilled nursing facility in 1989, serving as an administrator of several skilled nursing centers from 1990 through 1998, and capping his operational experience as a regional director of operations for a large-urban market from 1998 through 2004. Porter then accepted the challenge of leading HCR ManorCare’s Government Relations Department from 2004 to 2013 as its Vice President of Government Relations and served on various state health care association boards from 2004 to 2013.

Now, serving as the top lobbyist in AHCA/NCAL, Porter works to promote the association’s legislative agenda. Under his leadership, AHCA/NCAL was intricately involved in many legislative accomplishments, including the passage of the IMPACT Act, repeal of the physician SGR, implementation of SNF Value Based Purchasing, and permanent repeal of Part B therapy caps. Porter’s greatest accomplishment was leading the COVID-19 response negotiations with the White House and Congress ensuring billions of dollars in support for the sector during the pandemic. Under his leadership, the Association has successfully prevented rate cuts to the Medicare and Federal Medicaid programs since his arrival in 2013.

Porter holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Healthcare Management. He has been married to Deborah for over 34 years and they have three adult children. The Porter’s reside in Alexandria, Virginia.

Bill Sarraille

Regulatory Consultant

Bill Sarraille is a regulatory consultant and a retired senior member of the Healthcare Practice group at Sidley Austin LLP. He is a nationally recognized expert in health care, life sciences, drugs, medical devices, managed care, and patient access to treatments. Mr. Sarraille is widely known for his expertise in a broad array of healthcare matters, including Medicare and Medicaid, pharmaceutical coverage and price reporting, the 340B program, issues related to the marketing and promotion of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, Anti-Kickback Law compliance, and healthcare contracting.

During his years practicing law, Mr. Sarraille was recognized repeatedly by The Best Lawyers in America in both Healthcare Law and Administrative Law. He was also repeatedly listed as a leader in the field of healthcare law in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. He was listed by Nightingale’s Healthcare News as one of its “Outstanding Practice Lawyers”. He is the co-author of several health care books. Mr. Sarraille served on the Regulatory Relief Committee for the American Hospital Association and served on the Compliance Advisory Committee for the Healthcare Financial Management Association as its Chairman. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and he has written and spoken extensively on the IRA and its implications.

John Whyte, MD, MPH

Healthcare Futurist and Chief Medical Officer, WebMD

John Whyte is a physician and author with a unique combination of government and private sector work that provides him with an exceptional perspective on wellness, clinical trials, information technology, innovation, and health care services.

He is currently the Chief Medical Officer, WebMD. In this role, Dr. Whyte leads efforts to develop and expand strategic partnerships that create meaningful change around important and timely public health issues. He has been a leading voice in addressing the COVID pandemic, being named as one of the top 20 health influencers. Dr. Whyte is also a major contributor to iterating digital platforms from simply providing content, to instead playing a pivotal role in connecting to care.

Prior to WebMD, Dr. Whyte served as the Director of Professional Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at the Center for Drugs Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In this role, Dr. Whyte spearheaded numerous efforts to address diversity in drug development programs especially as it relates to necessary changes in clinical trial design. This includes strategies around patient recruitment and acquisition, as well as the use of adaptive clinical trial design and master protocols. Dr. Whyte also helped provide regulatory insight into the potential uses of real-world evidence in regulatory decisions, especially around patient-focused drug development. Dr. Whyte led a research agenda around drug safety issues, including prescription and over-the-counter products.

Prior to this, Dr. Whyte worked for nearly a decade as the Chief Medical Expert and Vice President, Health and Medical Education at Discovery Channel. Dr. Whyte developed, designed and delivered educational programming that appealed to both a medical and lay audience.  He provided strategic direction, aligning medical and public health interests, viewer demands and corporate funding opportunities. His shows run numerous awards, including Tellys and CINE Golden Eagle.

Dr. Whyte also served in numerous leadership roles at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. While there, he formalized the process by which the Medicare program determines coverage decisions, including the criteria meant by “medically necessary and reasonable.” He helped determine, evaluate and implement the national Medicare coverage policies on multiple products and services. He also oversaw an ongoing analysis of innovative treatment patterns and activities that improve health care outcomes. He is a recognized expert on various payment policies and models.

Dr. Whyte is a board-certified internist and continues to see patients. He completed an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center as well as earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Policy and Management at Harvard University School of Public Health. Prior to arriving in Washington, Dr. Whyte was a health services research fellow at Stanford and attending physician in the Department of Medicine. He has written extensively in the medical and lay press, including numerous best-selling books.