Melanie Fontes Rainer

Melanie Fontes Rainer serves as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services where she leads the Department’s enforcement of federal civil rights and privacy laws and directs related policy and strategic initiatives. Previously, Melanie served as Counselor to Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, providing strategy guidance to the Secretary on issues pertaining to civil rights, patient privacy, reproductive health, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), competition in healthcare, equity, and the private insurance market. In this role, she led the implementation of the bipartisan No Surprises Act, helping to increase transparency in medical billing and save consumers money. She also served as the Secretary’s designee on the White House Competition Council leading cross-cutting Department work and a whole-of-Government approach on price transparency, costs, and competition to benefit American consumers.