Our Leadership Team

Social Security, Medicare, and the health and retirement security of all Americans are our specialties. Our team of experts has decades of administrative and policy experience in dealing with the political, economic, and legislative aspects of the Social Security and Medicare programs.

Max Richtman, President/CEO

Max Richtman is one of the nation’s leading advocates for Social Security and Medicare — and a prominent expert on seniors’ issues. He has served as President and CEO of NCPSSM since 2011, after joining the organization in 1989.  Max also serves as Chair of the National Committee’s Political Action Committee (PAC) board. He is a former staff director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill.

Max has testified before House and Senate committees and provided expert commentary during appearances on CNN, C-Span, FOX, MSNBC, CBS and Pacifica radio networks. He has participated in hundreds of Congressional Town Hall meetings across the country and has been a featured speaker at national and state conferences on aging. His writings on seniors’ issues have been published in Newsweek, the Washington Post, The Hill, MarketWatch, CNN.com, and CNBC.com, among others.

Dan Adcock, Director of Government Relations & Policy

Veteran seniors’ advocate and policy expert, Dan Adcock, is the Director of Government Relations and Policy for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Prior to joining the National Committee, Dan was Legislative Director at the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE). During his 18-year tenure at NARFE, there were no legislated reductions in federal civilian retirement and health benefits. Dan helped to write, promote and enact NARFE led-legislation in September 2000 to create the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program.  He also served as executive assistant to Assistant Secretary for Aging Jeanette C. Takamura.  Dan was a professional staff member with the House Committee on Education and Labor where he helped write the 1992 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act and served as Senior Legislative Assistant to Representative Matthew G. Martinez (D-CA-31).  Before Capitol Hill, Dan held budget analyst positions with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy.

Maria Freese
Maria is the National Committee’s senior expert on Social Security and congressional activity affecting older Americans.  Before joining the National Committee, she had 17 years of legislative experience on Capitol Hill. Maria served as Director of Government Relations and Policy at the National Committee from 2005-2011. In her current position as senior legislative representative, Maria authors viewpoints and policy papers on Social Security and retirement.  She is frequently quoted on seniors’ issues in the media, including CNBC.com, MarketWatch, and ThinkAdvisor, among others. Her congressional experience includes handling appropriations issues for former Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) and serving as Legislative Director for Rep. L.F. Payne (D-VA) and Tax Counsel to the Senate Finance Committee. After leaving Capitol Hill, she partnered with former Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly (D-CT) in a boutique lobbying firm and taught political science courses at Trinity Washington University.

Anne Montgomery
Anne is an experienced health services analyst and researcher, specializing in issues affecting older Americans and people with disabilities. She serves as the National Committee’s senior expert on health care policy affecting seniors, including Medicare, Medicaid, and prescription drug pricing reform. Anne authors the National Committee’s viewpoints and policy papers on these topics, drawing on decades of experience in the seniors’ health care field. Anne also does media interviews about older Americans’ health care with national news outlets and specialty press. Anne served the U.S. Congress for a decade as an analyst for the Senate Special Committee on Aging and the House Ways & Means Committee. She has also worked at the Government Accountability Office, the Alliance for Health Policy, and as director of the Center for Eldercare Improvement at Altarum. She also is a key consultant in the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) capacity-building initiative focusing on the direct care workforce.  She has a BA from the University of Virginia and an MS from Columbia University.

Walter Gottlieb, Director of Communications

Walter served as Deputy Communications Director of the National Committee for several years before becoming Communications Director. He is responsible for the organization’s public messaging and communications strategies – including earned media, social media, the “Entitled to Know” blog, and media relations. Before joining the National Committee, Walter was an Emmy award-winning television and video producer, writer, and director. He produced programming for Discovery, History Channel, Smithsonian Networks, Animal Planet, and National Geographic, among others. He directed public television documentaries and worked as a tv news producer in Washington, D.C. and North Florida.