Schwartz, Allyson Y. (Allyson Young), 1948-

Allyson Young Schwartz (born October 3, 1948) is an American health care executive and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district from 2005 to 2015.

Born Allyson Young in Queens, New York, she graduated from the Calhoun School, on the Upper West Side of New York City, in 1966 and then enrolled at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Simmons in 1970 before earning a Master of Social Work degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1972. She worked as assistant director of the Philadelphia Health Services Department from 1972 to 1975, and executive director of the Elizabeth Blackwell Center, a reproductive health clinic in Philadelphia, from 1975 to 1988. She was appointed deputy commissioner of Philadelphia’s human service department by Mayor Wilson Goode in 1988. In 1990 Schwartz won a seat in the state senate after defeating a 12-year incumbent from northern Philadelphia. In Harrisburg, Schwartz concentrated on public health policy. In 2004, Schwartz abandoned her plans to run for Pennsylvania Auditor General to run for the U.S. House from Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district. After narrowly winning the Democratic primary, Schwartz easily won election.

During her time in Congress, Schwartz was known as one of the leading health care experts in government. She authored several key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The first bill Schwartz sponsored in the House encouraged employers to hire veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by providing federal work opportunity credits—a bill she would later list as among her proudest accomplishments. A member of the New Democrat Coalition, she strove to build bipartisan coalitions and work with more senior Members.

In 2014 Schwartz announced her candidacy for governor of Pennsylvania. In the Democratic primary, Schwartz lost to businessman Tom Wolf, who won with 59 percent of the vote. After she retired from the House in early 2015, Schwartz became a fellow at the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative and at the Center for American Progress. She also served as co-chair of the Health and Housing Task Force at the Bipartisan Policy Center and as president and chief executive officer of a group that worked to improve Medicare.