N. Lee Rucker, M.S.P.H.

N. Lee Rucker, M.S.P.H.

N. Lee Rucker's public policy and advocacy career spans several decades across a range of leading health care stakeholders. Her career began in the Ohio Senate with the President Pro Tempore; with U.S. Senator John Glenn in both Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio; and with the Ohio Department of Health. Her advocacy leadership in the nation's capital included directing government relations for the physician-led American Medical Group Association, and serving in a senior advocacy role with the American Pharmacists Association.

Ms. Rucker also led the U.S. headquarters' public policy team at a research-based pharmaceutical company, then Ciba-Geigy (today's Novartis). She also spent nearly a decade directing policy and public affairs with a coalition dedicated to enhancing medicine communication, the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE).

Since joining AARP in 2004, this multidisciplinary perspective enhances her role within the Public Policy Institute, where she counsels teams such as advocacy, member outreach and AARP Services Inc., on ensuring value across the pharmaceutical marketplace. Rucker is active in the U.S. Pharmacopeia, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and, since 2011, serves as Chair of NCPIE. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Areas of expertise:

Medicare Part D: benefit design, cost, sustainability, Incentivizing prescription drug value and appropriate use, Comparative effectiveness research, Chronic care coordination, Patient-clinician communication

Selected publications

"Medicare Part D Open Enrollment: Tough Choices for 2011 as Plans Change, Costs Shift" 

"The GINA Law: Consumer Protection in a New Era of Genetic Testing"  

"Biologics in Perspective: Expanded Clinical Options amid Greater Cost Scrutiny"