Traci L. Vitek

Traci L. Vitek, Senior Vice President at ML Strategies in Washington, DC, advises clients on federal health care policy, legislative strategy, and executive branch engagement. She leverages a deep understanding of federal decision-making, developed through more than two decades across Congress, federal agencies, and the private sector, to help clients navigate complex regulatory environments, build bipartisan relationships, and advance their health care priorities.

Traci has helped clients navigate complex issues involving the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

Before joining ML Strategies, Traci spent nearly a decade in senior roles at HHS and more than a decade in private-sector health policy consulting. She most recently served as Director of Federal Health Policy at a national consulting firm, providing strategic counsel on legislative and regulatory matters and advising clients on federal procurement strategy across the public, commercial, and state and local health sectors. At HHS, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, where she oversaw legislative portfolios for HRSA, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). In that role, she shaped policy on HRSA's 340B Drug Pricing Program, the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), rural health, telemedicine, health information technology, and interoperability. She also served as Senior Counselor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, where she led congressional oversight coordination and managed high-profile Congressional investigations into drug pricing and public health programs on behalf of the FDA, CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, and NIH.

Earlier in her career, Traci served as Attorney Advisor for Congressional Affairs at the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), where she was the principal liaison to Congressional committees on health policy oversight, briefed Congressional staff on OIG audits and enforcement actions, and provided technical assistance on health policy legislation — including HRSA's 340B program compliance. Traci also served as Republican Professional Staff on the US House Committee on Energy & Commerce, where she co-authored provisions of the landmark 21st Century Cures Act modernizing FDA drug and device approval processes and contributed to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

Traci also counseled health care clients at two national law firms on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and FDA policy and worked with medical societies — including advancing Stark Law and Anti-Kickback compliance reform — to advance their legislative priorities before Congress. She holds a JD, with a concentration in health law, from Michigan State University College of Law and a BA from Indiana University.

• Michigan State University College of Law (JD, health law)
• Indiana University, Bloomington (BA)

• HHS OIG Exceptional Achievement Award, US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (2012 – 2017)