Horizon Government Affairs has merged with private equity-backed Monument Advocacy to build out a healthcare policy shop the firms' leaders hope will make a splash in Washington.
The merger brings a tranche of private equity dollars and decades of Washington know-how that leadership hopes will help their clients win in Donald Trump’s Washington.
With Monument’s background in public affairs campaigns, CEO John Murray hopes to bring bold messaging strategies to their policy pushes in D.C. and in states, which are moving ahead in critical areas like artificial intelligence policy.
In Trump’s Washington, Murray and Horizon Government Affairs CEO and President Joel White know rhetoric can be the lynchpin for successful policy. “Messaging shapes what can get done, or what does get done, as much as policy details,” White said in an interview with Fierce Healthcare to give a first look at the merger.
Monument is pursuing a broader M&A strategy beyond the merger with Horizon Government Affairs. Murray said he hopes to place offices in key states’ capitals and major cities.
The bipartisan firm took on private equity investor Everlane Equity Partners in October 2024, and the PE firm is bankrolling the operation. With the investment, Murray said he wanted to expand operations in the nation's capital and other states legislating in areas where the federal government has lagged, like California, Florida, New York and Texas.
Horizon Government Affairs is known for its many healthcare policy coalitions, like the Health Innovation Alliance, which lobbies for health tech policy change, and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. White founded the lobbying firm in 2007. It will continue its work under the name Monument Advocacy.
Murray was attracted to Horizon by its depth of health policy knowledge. With the merger, he plans to bring his firm's public affairs and political communications expertise to build momentum around policy change and accomplish their clients' aims.
The organization has a presence in Washington, D.C. and tech-heavy Seattle where it works on AI, cybersecurity and other cross-sector policy issues. When asked about their lobbying priorities moving forward, White cited AI, interoperability and promoting consumer health awareness through wearables.
“I think the what we're seeing in this administration is a strong desire to leverage the latest technology and data assets to really transform the economy, quite frankly, but in healthcare, we have such low bar legacy regulations and burdens on doctors and hospitals and technology developers, we don't even have baseline interoperability built into everyone's systems, and so transforming that, I think [CMS Administrator Mehmet] Oz and [HHS Secretary Robert F.] Kennedy Jr. and the president have all been very clear this is a key priority for them,” White said.
White explained that healthcare faces burdensome legacy regulations. AI could automate compliance reporting and help clear away some of the "regulatory underbrush" that hospitals and physicians face daily.
"We need to fundamentally rethink Medicare, Medicaid, other federal programs where we're leveraging dollars to help people get and stay healthy, using technology, using data, and I think that the administration is 100% bought into those visions," White continued.
As Trump’s domestic policy bill gets implemented through regulation, White said Monument will lobby for part of the $50 billion rural hospital fund to be used towards strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure.
He also pointed to Congress’ to-do list as it heads into the second half of the year as potential areas for Monument Advocacy to play a role. That could include pharmacy benefit manager reform, drug pricing, Medicare Advantage, physician payment, AI and privacy legislation.
White and Murray stressed that the teams are a good cultural fit and align on strategic values. Several employees spent time working together on Capitol Hill in decades past, they said.
“What we envision is to be able to go out and really help our clients change what's happening in D.C. and to help policymakers make smart decisions,” White said.
Murray said Everlane Equity Partners does not influence its lobbying decisions, but it provides key guidance on structuring M&A deals.
“We invested in Monument Advocacy with the intention of finding firms to complement its client work and expand the overall growth strategy—and Horizon fits that model perfectly,” Evan Horton, managing partner at Everlane Equity Partners, said in a press release. “This is just the beginning, and we look forward to continuing to expand Monument’s capabilities and footprint.”