Former Thomas aide joins medical-device group

Ann-Marie Lynch, the former staff director of the House Ways and Means Committee Health Subcommittee, will become vice president for payment and healthcare delivery at the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) in October.

Lynch was an aide to Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) from 1997 to 2000, when he was chairman of the health panel as it guided through such notable legislation as the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. She eventually became staff director.

She left the Hill to become vice president of policy for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), where she worked from 2000 to 2001.

After departing PhRMA, Lynch served in the Bush administration from 2001 to January of this year, where she served as principle deputy assistant secretary of planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was part of the team that developed the Medicare prescription-drug bill. From 1990 to 1995, Lynch worked for the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid.