Tracking and Influencing State Legislation in 2022
Tuesday, September 20
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
In this session, regional representatives will sit down for a discussion moderated by NADP's Government Relations team on the landscape for dental legislation. Attendees will get insight into the biggest threats, challenges, and opportunities facing dental plans in the legislatures of all 50 states looking ahead to 2023.
Crystal McElroy
VP, Group Benefits Contracts and Compliance
MetLife
Crystal McElroy is the vice president of the group benefits contracts and compliance team at Metlife in Irvine, California. She oversees all contracts, compliance, and regulatory issues related to MetLife’s Group Benefits business. Crystal is presently the vice chair of the NADP Commission on Advocacy Policy and volunteers on the NADP Government Relations Workgroup. She also serves as the co-chair of the CADP Legislative and Regulatory Committee and is the Secretary for the CADP Board of Directors and is a member of the NADP Board of Directors. Before joining MetLife in Oct. 2013, she served as a senior attorney with the California Department of Managed Health Care in the Office of Plan Licensing for seven years. She was responsible for reviewing the dental plan and health plan licensing documents related to plan benefits, disclosure documents, networks, and mergers and acquisitions. Crystal graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in Biochemistry and a minor in Political Science in 2003. She obtained her juris doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, in 2006.
Jaci Strube
Advocacy Lead for the Specialty Benefits Division
Principal Financial Group
Jaci Strube is the advocacy lead for the specialty Benefits division at Principal Financial Group and lives in Des Moines, Iowa, where the company’s global headquarters are located. She oversees advocacy efforts for all group specialty benefits products – dental, vision, short and long-term disability, paid family and medical leave, life, accident, critical illness, and individual disability. Jaci has 14 years of industry experience at Principal. She has held roles in claims, business operations and IT project management, giving her a well-rounded understanding of our business. Jaci is a current member of CADP’s Board of Directors, the Legislative and Regulatory Committee, as well as NADP’s Government Relations Workgroup and Commission on Advocacy Policy, and sits on ACLI’s Dental Committee. Jaci holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Media and Journalism from the University of South Dakota. She serves in several volunteer roles with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), including the National Leadership Council, and she is the Foundation’s emeritus National Advocacy Co-Chair. Jaci led the formation of the Congressional Cystic Fibrosis Caucus, a bipartisan organization of the U.S. Congress, by working with Senator Chuck Grassley to co-chair the group with Senator Ed Markey. In 2017, Jaci spoke at a Congressional briefing on healthcare policy. In Des Moines, Jaci is a current CFF Iowa chapter board member and the Blank Children’s Hospital Family Advisory Board.
Mike Trebold
Compliance Manager, Group Division
Ameritas Life
Mike Trebold is a compliance manager for the group division of Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., which he joined in 2014. His responsibilities include advocacy and oversight of the legislative and regulatory review and implementation. He has over 20 years of compliance and regulatory experience in the insurance industry. Mike is currently the vice chair of the NADP Government Relations Workgroup and a member of the NADP Board of Directors. He earned a B.S.B.A. from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and a Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
Owen Urech
Director of Government Relations
National Association of Dental Plans
Before becoming director of government & regulatory affairs, Owen served NADP as a senior government affairs analyst. He worked closely with NADP members to coordinate the dental benefits industry's response to congressional proposals on dental in Medicare and issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage and state regulatory activity. Before joining NADP, Owen developed health policy proposals and research at the Roosevelt Institute and Health Management Academy, as well as on several political campaigns. Owen graduated from American University with a degree in political science specializing in American government and is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Texas at Dallas. His graduate research focuses on the origins of national health systems.
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