Amber counsels employers, plan sponsors, and health insurance companies on a wide range of health care and ERISA matters including health benefit planning and design, day-to-day plan administration, and new benefit and product launches.
Immediately prior to joining Groom, Amber served as a high-ranking official at the Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”). Most recently, as the Director of the Office of Health Plan Standards and Compliance Assistance (“OHPSCA”), Amber was DOL’s principal advisor on health care policy issues related to ERISA. She was also the agency lead on developing regulations, sub-regulatory guidance, interpretations, and opinions, and coordinating external and internal compliance assistance, education, and training materials under part 7 of ERISA, the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), the No Surprises Act, and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), and COBRA, among other health care laws. She regularly represented EBSA and DOL in meetings with senior administration officials and members of congress.
While at EBSA, Amber was responsible for coordinating EBSA’s and DOL’s healthcare regulatory agenda and on related interpretive issues with her counterparts at the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and various offices within the Executive Office of the President. In this role, she worked closely with a wide variety of external stakeholders, including employers and other plan sponsors, health insurance companies, third party administrators and other service providers, trade associations, consumer organizations, provider organizations, NAIC, and state agencies. Amber also frequently provided technical assistance to states on health care matters, as well as other federal agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). In addition to her role in OHPSCA, Amber completed a detail in the Office of Enforcement in EBSA, where she helped oversee the agency’s health enforcement program and strategy.
Given her former high-ranking position at DOL, Amber is uniquely positioned to help clients anticipate regulatory and legislative developments; comply with complex applicable laws, regulations, and sub-regulatory guidance; interpret federal rules and market trends; and navigate government enforcement.
