PALS - Liz Helms

Liz Helms is a patient advocate and co-founder of the TMJ and Orofacial Pain Society of America (TOPS America), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing about changes in health care practices and laws to improve treatment for TMJ sufferers. Dedicated to improving the nation’s healthcare system, Liz became an advocate because of her first hand experiences when her health plan denied her access to care. She is the founding member for the California Chronic Care Coalition, a member of the PALS Advisory board from 2006 – 2007, a charter member for the ACT Alliance, Access to Care and Treatment, a national spokesperson for the Citizens for the Right to Know, a California-based alliance dedicated to educating consumers about the need to become informed, cost-conscious purchasers of health care, and a member the Medicare Part D Speakers Bureau.

She was appointed to the FDA Patient Representative Program and is called to sit on the Dental Device panel when needed. Liz is an ex-officio member of the Access to Care Committee with the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) a national provider organization and is an advisor to the TMJ Registry, a NIH funded program housed through the University of Minnesota.

Often representing voluntary health associations, provider groups and consumer organizations, Liz has testified before Congress and the California State Assembly and Senate committees on the issue of patients’ rights and healthcare practices. Presently she has been the catalyst within the chronic disease community to work with Governor Schwarzenegger's health policy division on his health initiative as the Governor has made 2007 the “Year of Health Care.”