Rita K. Kuwahara, MD, MIH
Rita K. Kuwahara, MD, MIH, is a primary care health policy fellow and internal medicine physician at Georgetown University. She also serves on the National Steering Committee for Prescription Drug Affordability at Doctors for America.
“Much of my work has centered around issues of health equity and social justice. I am currently working on a range of federal and state health policy topics, including policies related to ensuring medication affordability and vaccine access, strengthening vaccine administration infrastructure and pharmacy-clinic communication, addressing infectious disease consequences of the opioid epidemic with a focus on increasing adult hepatitis B vaccination, opposing Medicaid work requirements and other policies limiting access to care, promoting Medicaid expansion, addressing the social determinants of health, reducing hospitalizations of individuals with complex health and social needs, and transforming primary care to comprehensively meet the needs of our nation,” Kuwahara said. “As the 2020 national Copello health advocacy fellow at Doctors for America, I am working on federal and state prescription drug pricing policy reform to make medicines affordable for everyone living in the United States. I previously represented community health centers across the country as the federal policy fellow at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations in Washington, D.C., where I worked on federal health and immigration policy, and I have been active with the American College of Physicians, where I served as ACP's national health policy intern and on ACP's national council of resident and fellow members. In addition to my work in federal health policy and advocacy, I am very involved in quality improvement initiatives and have also had the opportunity to live, study and engage in comparative international public health research in India, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Moldova, Kenya, Ecuador, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, with a focus on global noncommunicable diseases, integrating infectious and noncommunicable disease services, and medical education and health systems strengthening.”