Ron Pollack, longtime social justice activist and founding executive director of Families USA, will step down after 33 years at the organization's helm.
He plans to leave at the end of March 2017, and will take on the role of Families USA Chair Emeritus.
"I've been privileged to lead Families USA's efforts to address social injustice by securing high-quality, affordable healthcare for tens of millions of uninsured Americans. I am immensely proud of all that we have accomplished, but the time has come to let a younger generation of leaders pick up this fight," Mr. Pollack said in a prepared statement.
Under Mr. Pollack's leadership, Families USA, one of the most influential healthcare advocacy groups in the nation, has been at the forefront of many of the nation's biggest healthcare fights. Mr. Pollack was appointed by former President Bill Clinton as the sole consumer representative on the commission that crafted the Patients' Bill of Rights, and Families USA successfully promoted the adoption of its provisions in state legislatures, according to a news release. Families USA also played a vital role in the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program in 1997 and its expansion in 2009.
Most important, Families USA was a key player in the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
In addition to serving as Families USA's Chair Emeritus, Mr. Pollack will also continue to serve on the boards of other organizations he created, including Enroll America, where he serves as board chairman, and the Food Research and Action Center, where he serves on the executive committee. He will also pursue his career-long passion of promoting economic distributive justice in other roles to be announced at a later time.
The Families USA board will conduct a national search for Mr. Pollack's successor beginning in June 2016.
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