Leif Wellington Haase, president of LWH Consulting, draws on three decades of policy experience at the federal, state, and local levels. His background also includes extensive international work, principally in Canada, Europe, China, and Southeast Asia. As well as working on national and state political campaigns and ballot initiatives, he advises federal and state legislators and their staff on key policy issues. Leif was closely involved in the health reform debates that led to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He played a significant role in developing and explaining the law’s personal responsibility measures and in helping implement the law in California and other states. He has taught at Yale University and at the Dalian University of Technology, People’s Republic of China. Leif holds graduate degrees from Yale University and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University (School of Public and International Affairs).
New America’s California Program
Leif previously directed the New America Foundation’s California Program, which released numerous publications and hosted events on issues of critical importance to California, including health care, education, energy, tax and budget policy, climate change, and civic engagement. He managed the Foundation’s main California office and oversaw the daily operations of the program, including the staff of its policy programs in health care, education, energy, financial security, and political reform. Leif was responsible for raising money for New America’s program staff and fellows and represented the foundation in media appearances.
The Century Foundation
Before joining New America, Leif served as Senior Program Officer and oversaw the health care program at The Century Foundation, formerly the Twentieth Century Fund, a think tank based in New York City. At TCF, he directed national task forces on Medicare, on bioterrorism and public health, and co-authored and edited books on health care, Social Security, media, and welfare, education, and campaign finance reform. He was primarily responsible for grantmaking (internal and oversight of outside grants), event planning, and manuscript editing in health care.
Affordable Care Task Force
In 2010, Leif served as the executive director of the California Task Force on Affordable Care, a high-level group of physicians, insurers, patient advocates, and other stakeholders working together to find ways to get better value for health spending. The group’s final report recommended policies for saving the state more than $300 billion in health spending over ten years and continues to be frequently referred to by legislators and media.
Clients & Funders
Clients have included candidates for office, major foundations, trade associations, health insurers, insurance brokers, medical schools, and hospitals, among them the Markle Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, Stanford University, Claremont Insurance Services, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the California Association of Health Plans, the Lown Institute, the Healthy Systems Project, the Sino-American Economic Forum, and Monitor 360.
Past funders include the Blue Shield of California Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Brookings Institution, and the California Endowment.
Books
Leif’s book A New Deal for Health, which laid out a novel approach to health care reform, gained national recognition. He is also the co-author of Medicare Tomorrow, “National Health Insurance: Lessons from Abroad,” “Lessons from California’s Health Reform Efforts for the National Debate,” and numerous reports and articles on bioterrorism, prescription drug coverage, pharmaceutical pricing, public health, and long-term care.
Keynote Speaker
Leif has been a keynote speaker and presenter on health care at numerous corporate events and academic conferences. He has appeared on ABC News (Good Morning America), CNBC, and NPR and written opinion pieces and commentaries for the Associated Press, New York Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, the Atlantic, and The American Prospect, among others.