A partner at Mehlman Consulting, Dean Rosen is one of Washington’s foremost experts on America’s complex health care system—and a master of both the politics and policies that shape it. With three decades of experience developing and advancing health policy initiatives on Capitol Hill and in the private sector, Rosen has been named a “Top Lobbyist” by The Hill, a “Power Player” that healthcare groups turn to by Modern Healthcare, and one of the “DC Healthcare Power Players Who Shape the Rules for a $3.5 trillion industry” by Business Insider.
Rosen advises a wide range of health care stakeholders, from established players to startups trying to gain a foothold in Washington, DC. He has represented health systems and hospitals, medical colleges and physician professional organizations, health insurers, clinical laboratories, biopharmaceutical companies, nonprofit foundations, and multinational employers. He helps clients shape national policy and navigate the transformational changes taking place in the nation’s health care system.
Through multiple roles with the David A. Winston Health Policy Fellowship, the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship, Rosen has devoted decades to supporting and mentoring the next generation of health policy leaders. In 2023, Rosen joined the Distinguished Executive Council of Cressey & Company, providing strategic advice to the leading mid-market health care private equity firm.
Prior to joining Mehlman Consulting, Rosen held a series of high-level positions in both the private sector and government, including on key committees in both the Senate and House. As the Chief Healthcare Advisor to former Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), a leading voice on national medical and health issues, Rosen helped draft and navigate to final passage landmark legislation creating a Medicare prescription drug benefit and President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to combat HIV/AIDS. Rosen also helped pass laws in the wake of the September 11 and bioterrorism attacks in 2001 to ensure that local, state, and national public health systems had new authorities and resources to respond to future threats.
Earlier, Rosen served as Staff Director for the Senate Subcommittee on Public Health, Majority Counsel for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, and Health Policy Coordinator for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources (now the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee). While at Ways and Means, he played a leading role in crafting the Medicare provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. At Labor, he was the lead Senate staffer drafting the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Rosen’s policy, legal, and management experience expands beyond Capitol Hill. He served as Senior Vice President of Policy and General Counsel for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), and practiced law at Dow, Lohnes and Albertson in Washington, DC.