Daniel R. Hawkins Jr., BA

Biography

Dan Hawkins is Senior Vice-President for Public Policy and Research at the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc. (NACHC), where he provides NACHC's membership with federal and state health-related policy research, analysis, and leadership. Since Dan joined NACHC in 1981, federal support for health centers has grown from $350 million to $2.2 billion annually, and the number of people served by health centers has grown from 5 million to more than 20 million. Health centers also received an extra $2 billion under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (the stimulus bill), and most recently received $11 billion in guaranteed, directed funding under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the health reform bill), which will allow health centers to grow to serve at least 40 million people by 2015. Prior to joining NACHC, Dan served as a VISTA volunteer, Director of a migrant and community health center located in south Texas, and as an assistant to HHS Secretary Joseph Califano during the Carter Administration. He has written numerous articles and monographs on health care issues, and has provided testimony before several Congressional Committees. Dan teaches a course in health policy at the George Washington University, has lectured on health policy topics at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other universities, and has been interviewed frequently by major newspapers and radio/television networks. He has been named one of America's most influential health policy makers.