Richard Hughes leverages his background as a health insurance lawyer and health care policy executive to help pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and health care entities navigate a broad range of legal, regulatory, and policy issues.
As a vaccine thought leader, Richard has led many efforts to expand access to vaccines and preventive services that improve public health outcomes. His thought leadership and problem-solving strategies have broken barriers to access to vaccines and PrEP for HIV, and his advice on vaccine policy is sought after by leading manufacturers, members of Congress, federal agencies, and the broader advocacy community.
Richard counsels pharmaceutical and device companies, plans, health care providers, and national governments. He offers guidance on coverage, payment, legal, and regulatory issues under Medicare, Medicaid, ERISA, and state insurance laws. Additionally, he provides strategic counsel to industry entities on legislative and regulatory trends and policy developments impacting the health sector, develops responsive and proactive strategies, and counsels on the creation of delivery and payment systems, including the implementation of national single-payor health insurance systems. And through Epstein Becker Green’s EBG Advisors consultancy, Richard combines legal, consulting, and data analysis to build comprehensive market strategies for life sciences companies’ product development and growth.
In the summer of 2022, Richard returned to Epstein Becker Green after serving as Managing Director at a leading health care consulting and advisory firm, where he founded the firm’s vaccines and preventive services group. He then served as Vice President of Public Policy at a major pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
Before becoming an attorney, Richard served in several health policy leadership roles. He was a gubernatorial appointee to the Arkansas State Board of Health, where he deliberated regulatory policy, co-presided over appeals before the state health department, and actively spoke on numerous health policy issues. Richard then served as Director of State Health Policy at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials in Washington, DC, and later as Associate Director of Policy with a Fortune 100 global pharmaceutical company. In these roles, Richard regularly interacted with and advised state and national policymakers and health leaders on various issues, including public health policy, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.
