Press Release
K&L Gates Boosts Public Policy Practice with Addition of Former OMB Associate Director in Washington, D.C., Office
10 June 2015
Washington, D.C. - The Washington, D.C., office of global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Donald A. Dempsey as a government affairs counselor in the public policy and law practice. Dempsey joins the firm from Breakaway Policy Strategies.
Dempsey’s career spans significant government and private sector positions. He served as associate director for human resources programs for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he managed OMB’s budgetary oversight of the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor, as well as certain components of the Department of Agriculture and the Social Security Administration. This included direct responsibility for federal Medicare and Medicaid programs and federal funding for health care, medical research, education, and other programs.
Prior to his position at OMB, he was the director of health policy for the Senate Budget Committee and worked for several members of Congress, where he drafted and helped enact critical health care legislation.
“Don’s comprehensive knowledge of federal health care policy provides our clients a unique advantage as they work through various changes to the policy and regulatory aspects of the health care industry,” said Bruce J. Heiman, a partner in K&L Gates’ Washington, D.C., office and a leader of the firm’s policy and regulatory practice area.
After leaving government service, Dempsey worked to assist health care providers, pharmaceutical, medical device companies, and insurers in understanding federal health care policy, including Medicare and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as analyzing legislative and regulator risk across various health care provider types and industry sectors.
“Health care providers face numerous challenges from complex and constantly changing government regulations to a rapidly changing health care marketplace,” commented Mary Beth F. Johnston, administrative partner of K&L Gates’ Research Triangle Park office and a leader of the firm’s health care practice. “Working with our global team of health care lawyers, Don’s experience in the economics and regulation of health care gives our clients a new tool to help make the right decisions.”
K&L Gates’ public policy and law practice has nearly 50 bipartisan lawyers and policy professionals with 500 years of combined experience in federal and state government. They assist clients around the world and across a diverse array of industries including defense, financial services, environment and energy, and health care, among others.
Dempsey’s career spans significant government and private sector positions. He served as associate director for human resources programs for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he managed OMB’s budgetary oversight of the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor, as well as certain components of the Department of Agriculture and the Social Security Administration. This included direct responsibility for federal Medicare and Medicaid programs and federal funding for health care, medical research, education, and other programs.
Prior to his position at OMB, he was the director of health policy for the Senate Budget Committee and worked for several members of Congress, where he drafted and helped enact critical health care legislation.
“Don’s comprehensive knowledge of federal health care policy provides our clients a unique advantage as they work through various changes to the policy and regulatory aspects of the health care industry,” said Bruce J. Heiman, a partner in K&L Gates’ Washington, D.C., office and a leader of the firm’s policy and regulatory practice area.
After leaving government service, Dempsey worked to assist health care providers, pharmaceutical, medical device companies, and insurers in understanding federal health care policy, including Medicare and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as analyzing legislative and regulator risk across various health care provider types and industry sectors.
“Health care providers face numerous challenges from complex and constantly changing government regulations to a rapidly changing health care marketplace,” commented Mary Beth F. Johnston, administrative partner of K&L Gates’ Research Triangle Park office and a leader of the firm’s health care practice. “Working with our global team of health care lawyers, Don’s experience in the economics and regulation of health care gives our clients a new tool to help make the right decisions.”
K&L Gates’ public policy and law practice has nearly 50 bipartisan lawyers and policy professionals with 500 years of combined experience in federal and state government. They assist clients around the world and across a diverse array of industries including defense, financial services, environment and energy, and health care, among others.
K&L Gates comprises more than 2,000 lawyers globally who practice in fully integrated offices located on five continents. The firm represents leading multinational corporations, growth and middle-market companies, capital markets participants and entrepreneurs in every major industry group as well as public sector entities, educational institutions, philanthropic organizations and individuals.
