Meet the Surgeon-Economist at Heart of Democrats’ Drug Price Law

Meena Seshamani has a knack for connecting her policy work with the problems many face with the US health system.

When practicing otolaryngology in Georgetown, she saw a patient with a growing mass on her neck. The woman told Seshamani—a practicing surgeon and economist—her insurance wouldn’t cover the surgery. If the patient had cancer, it could cripple her financially.

But Seshamani, now the director of the Center for Medicare, knew the Affordable Care Act’s annual open enrollment was soon; in fact, a few years earlier, she’d been a central figure in implementing the law. She told the patient she could ...