Ann Combs is a Principal of William M. Mercer's Washington Resource Group, which provides legal and government relations assistance to the firm's consultants and clients on issues relating to employee benefits and compensation programs. Ann is responsible for WRG's government relations practice, which includes helping clients develop policy positions and advocating on their behalf before Congress and the Administration. Her emphasis is on retirement security, including private sector retirement plans and Social Security, and employer-sponsored health care, including managed care reform and ERISA preemption.

Ann also served on the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security, which developed recommendations on long-term financing, the equity and adequacy of benefits; and the relationship of Social Security to private pension plans and savings. Ann continues to serve as an expert resource on Social Security reform for employers and policymakers.

Ann is a frequent guest speaker on employee benefits issues before such organizations as The Business Roundtable, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Investment Company Institute, the American Council on Life Insurance, the Financial Executives Institute, the American Bar Association, the International Foundation of Employee Benefits, the National Academy of Social Insurance, the National Commission on Retirement Policy, and numerous others.

Prior to joining Mercer in 1993, Ann served six years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration in the Reagan and Bush Administrations where she was responsible for advising the Secretary and senior staff on retirement and health policy. She was charged with developing legislative and regulatory policy for the agency and served as the primary liaison with other federal agencies, Congress and affected constituencies. Ann also served on President Bush's White House Health Policy Working Group.

During her 18 years of employee benefits experience, Ann also has worked for Price Waterhouse, Inc. and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). While at the NAM, Ann staffed its president, Alexander Trowbridge, in his capacity as a member of the Greenspan Commission on Social Security Reform.

Ann received her J.D. from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the National Academy of Social Insurance and former chair of the Secure Retirement Coalition. She authors a biweekly memo, "Politics and Policy," for Mercer's clients.