Charles N. Kahn III

Chip Kahn is President of the Federation of American Hospitals, the national advocacy organization for investor-owned hospitals and health systems. Mr. Kahn became the Federation’s President in June 2001.

Mr. Kahn is one of the nation’s preeminent experts on health policy and Medicare issues, and his leadership on health care issues and in the political arena is well recognized. Since becoming President of the Federation, The Hill newspaper, in March 2003, selected him as one of the capital’s top “rainmakers” for the third consecutive year. Mr. Kahn also has been acknowledged as one of two “major movers” of an effort sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to bring together a diverse, “strange bedfellows” coalition of often-opposing major national advocacy organizations to seek solutions to extending health coverage to the uninsured.

Before coming to the Federation, Mr. Kahn was one of the nation’s top leaders in the health insurance industry. As President of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA), he focused national attention on the plight of the uninsured, effectively placing this issue at the forefront of the national public policy agenda. Under his leadership, HIAA dramatically increased its membership and prestige, and was named by Fortune magazine for three consecutive years as the nation’s most influential insurance trade association in its “Power 25” list of Washington, DC-based lobbying organizations.

For many years, Mr. Kahn held key staff positions on Capitol Hill. During 1995-1998, he played a critical role in passage of significant health legislation while serving as staff director for the Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Mr. Kahn also served as minority health counsel for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee from 1986-1993, and as senior health policy advisor to former Senator David Durenberger (R-MN) and legislative assistant for health to former Senator Dan Quayle (R-IN).

Mr. Kahn holds a Masters of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, which in 2001 bestowed upon him its prestigious “Champion of Public Health” award. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Johns Hopkins University.