Rising Stars: Katie Van Deynze of Health Access

When Katie Van Deynze talks about healthcare policy, people listen. At 29 years old, she serves as Senior Legislative Advocate at Health Access California, where she has established herself as a trusted voice in the Capitol community.

Originally from Manitoba, Canada, Van Deynze’s parents moved to Davis, California, just before she was born. Van Deynze grew up interested in healthcare policy, as she and her parents frequently discussed the differences between the American and Canadian healthcare systems. She saw family members with serious illnesses navigate the Canadian healthcare system, knowing that if they went through the same thing in the United States, it could cause devastating financial consequences for the family.

During her senior year of high school, Van Deynze took the bus to the Capitol twice a week to intern for Assemblymember Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood). She gained an insider’s perspective on policymaking very early on, talking to constituents, researching policies, and attending legislative briefings.

Van Deynze studied political science at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, interested in learning about public policy and politics in a system foreign to her own. She received an extensive education on the political and economic systems in Canada, and became increasingly aware of its contrasts from the United States.

While she enjoyed her college experience in Canada, Van Deynze knew she wanted to return to the California policy landscape. She spent one summer break interning for Rendon and two others interning at Fearless Advocacy, Inc., a nonprofit lobbying firm, solidifying her commitment to California policy.

After graduating, Van Deynze moved back to Sacramento, where she worked her way up from Legislative Aide to Legislative Director in Assemblymember Kansen Chu’s office (D-San Jose). She eventually became Legislative Director to Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) during the pandemic, when the office was almost entirely on Zoom.

While working in the legislature, Van Deynze staffed various policy issues, and she knew that healthcare was an issue that she wanted to focus on more deeply. She had been lobbied by Health Access and was impressed by their work, so she applied when they had an opening as a Policy and Legislative Advocate.

“In just a little over two years here, she has been able to dive so deeply into our policy work and has become such a trusted and valued voice in it. The state and the advocacy community is lucky to have her on their side.”

Van Deynze was the first hire of Diana Douglas, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Health Access. “Like most Capitol staffers, she was spread across a variety of areas,” says Douglas. “She seemed really excited to be able to dig into one policy area.That’s something that I’ve seen from her in her two and a half years on the team, is that she is always eager to get into the most complex policy. She doesn’t shy away from that.”

At Health Access, Van Deynze has worked on some of the most contentious issues in healthcare policy. One of the first issues that she worked on was a healthcare merger oversight bill designed to protect patients from spikes in healthcare costs and reduced access to care. Last year, she worked on AB 716, a bill to ban surprise ambulance billing, an issue that Health Access has fought for a long time. The bill passed unanimously out of the legislature and took effect this year.

It quickly became evident that Van Deynze has a skill for combining her legislative expertise with communication and advocacy work. “In an information environment that is so fractured, she is a very effective messenger on how consumers can benefit from these policies that we’re trying to advance. It’s a skill that is difficult to master, but I think Katie’s doing a really good job,” says Rachel Linn Gish, Director of Communications at Health Access.

This year, Van Deynze led advocacy efforts on three bills with significant industry opposition. She returned to healthcare consolidation and mergers with AB 3129, which aimed to strengthen oversight of private equity acquisitions in healthcare, requiring private equity funds to obtain approval from the Attorney General. It reached Governor Newsom’s desk, which was an achievement in itself, but was ultimately vetoed.

“We have not previously gotten a consolidation bill through the legislature to the Governor’s desk like this, and she was able to get it there through really intense lobbying against really strong industry opposition,” says Douglas. “She stayed strong, stayed with the policy, and never lost sight of what we were trying to do.”

Van Deynze also led the advocacy on AB 236, which tackled inaccuracies in provider directories.The bill ultimately died in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but remains a priority for Health Access. She had more success with her work on SB 1061, which bans medical debt on people’s credit reports. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the measure into law this year.

Behind all of these legislative battles is a desire to protect the consumer. “At the end of the day, people at home don’t care about all these complicated reasons why we can’t fix the problem,” says Van Deynze. “They care about being able to access their healthcare. When we’re talking about private equity buying a hospital, we’re talking about what that means for people.”

Looking forward, Health Access is preparing for what a new Trump administration could mean for healthcare and assessing how they will fight to protect healthcare funding. They are also focused on priorities such as inaccuracies in provider directories and consolidation in the healthcare industry.

Van Deynze plans to remain at Health Access for the foreseeable future, as she is committed to her ongoing work and she wants to see these policies signed into law. She was promoted to Senior Legislative Advocate just last month, a sign of her growth in the organization over the past two years.

“The sky is the limit with Katie,” says Douglas. “In just a little over two years here, she has been able to dive so deeply into our policy work and has become such a trusted and valued voice in it. The state and the advocacy community is lucky to have her on their side.”