Office on Disability (OD)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Henry Claypool
Director, Office on Disability (OD)
E-mail: ODInfo@hhs.gov
Phone: (202) 401-5844
As the Director of the Office on Disability, Mr. Henry Claypool serves as the primary advisor to the HHS Secretary on disability policy and oversees the implementation of all HHS programs and initiatives pertaining to Americans with disabilities.
Mr. Claypool has 25 years of experience with developing and implementing disability policy at the Federal, State, and local levels. As an individual with a disability, his personal experience with the nation’s health care system provides a unique perspective to the agencies within HHS and across the Federal government. Mr. Claypool sustained a spinal injury more than 25 years ago. In the years following his injury, he relied on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, which enabled him to complete his bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado. After completing his degree, he spent five years working for a Center for Independent Living, after which he became the Director of the Disability Services Office at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Mr. Claypool also served as the Director of Policy at Independence Care System, a managed long-term care provider in New York City. Mr. Claypool served for several years as an advisor to the Federal government on disability policy and related issues. From 1998-2002, he held various advisory positions at HHS, including Senior Advisor on Disability Policy to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the Clinton administration. From 2005-2006, he served as a Senior Advisor to the Social Security Administration’s Office of Disability and Income Support Programs.
In 2007, Mr. Claypool was also appointed by Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia to serve on the Commonwealth’s Health Reform Commission.
