Sarah Rayel, MPP

Sarah Snyder Rayel is a Director at NORC with over 10 years of experience in health care policy, strategy, and analysis. In her role, she works to leverage the depth and breadth of NORC’s diverse social sciences expertise and research assets to help health care clients meet their business objectives

Prior to joining NORC, Sarah was a Managing Director of Medicare Policy with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) in Washington, DC. BCBSA is the national association of 35 independent, community-based, and locally operated Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. In this role, Sarah led BCBSA's policy development on Medicare Advantage and Part D, including responding to regulations by analyzing proposals’ impact on BCBS plan business and developing BCBS plan consensus on issues. Sarah also led BCBSA's policy work on Medicare Part D redesign, including directing outside actuarial analysis and presenting options and analysis to plan decision makers and key Congressional committee staff.

Prior to BCBSA, Sarah worked in consulting for Avalere Health, where she provided strategic support for clients navigating Medicare payment changes. This included helping post-acute care clients evaluate their potential participation in the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BCPI) demonstration and analyzing the market impacts of regulatory changes and legislative trends

Sarah began her career as a Medicare Program Examiner in the Office of Management and Budget where she led review of complex Medicare payment regulations, briefed senior officials on major issues, and developed proposals for the President’s Budget.