Thomas Barker
Thomas Barker joined Foley Hoag in March 2009. Thomas splits his time between the firm's Washington, DC and Boston offices and focuses his practice on complex federal and state health care legal and regulatory matters. Prior to joining the firm, he was acting General Counsel at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Since arriving at Foley Hoag, Thomas has focused his practice on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues for innovator pharmaceutical products; provided legal, regulatory and strategic advice for multiple Medicare providers, including dialysis facilities, medical device manufacturers, and innovator pharmaceutical companies; provided crisis counseling and legal advice to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D plans undergoing CMS audits; and, with the enactment of health care reform legislation in the Spring of 2010, has begun counseling clients on the multiple changes to health care laws that have occurred as a result of the legislation.
Prior to coming to Foley Hoag, Thomas served in a succession of high-level federal health care policy positions throughout the Bush Administration. In 2008, he served as acting General Counsel of HHS; from 2005 – 2008, he served as health policy advisor under HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt. While serving as acting General Counsel, Thomas oversaw a staff of some 450 attorneys responsible for reviewing every regulation and interpretive guidance published by the Department. In that role, he provided legal advice to Secretary Leavitt, along with the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Thomas played a key role in the implementation of several major health policy initiatives during his time at HHS: the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Medicare Part D); Medicaid modernization; the President's agenda on health care transparency and health information technology; and the President's health care access proposals. He also chaired HHS briefings on Medicare and Medicaid policy, and assisted in the initiative to rebuild the New Orleans health care infrastructure following Hurricane Katrina.
While at HHS Thomas also served as the administration's lead negotiator with Congress on Medicare and Katrina relief provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005; drafted President Bush's Executive Order on health care transparency and health information technology; served as HHS negotiator on the pharmaceutical and medical device provisions of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement; developed health care initiatives for the President's State of the Union Addresses in 2007 and 2008; was principal liaison between HHS and the Department of Treasury on tax issues for health care; and served as collaborator in the Health Care Forum as part of the Strategic Economic Dialogue with the Chinese government.
Thomas also directed the conduct of litigation involving provider reimbursement disputes, including drafting a request for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court on a hospital reimbursement matter. As acting General Counsel at HHS, he is on the FDA's amicus brief in Wyeth v. Levine, the prescription drug preemption case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009.
Bars and Court Admissions
- Massachusetts
- Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- U.S. Tax Court
professional / civic involvement
- Boston Bar Association
- Health Law Section Steering Committee, Member; developed quarterly newsletter of Section
- Legislative Subcommittee, Co-Chair
- American Health Lawyers Association
- Federalist Society
- John Carroll Society
- Pro Bono Attorney for Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Greater Boston Bar Association, Boston, Massachusetts
- Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, D.C., October 2003 – present
- Member of the Board of Trustees of CareGroup, Inc.
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health
SPEECHES AND CONFERENCES
- "Health Care Reform and Challenges for CMS," Transparent Pricing and Benchmarks Conference, Chaindrugstores.net (May 26, 2010)
- "Overview of Regulatory Changes to Medicare, Medicaid, and Other Public Payors," 11th Annual Hospital & Health Law Conference 2010 (May 14, 2010)
- "The Federal Government: Limiting or Encouraging Innovation," The Galen Institute's Value of Innovation in Health Care Conference (December 9, 2009)
- "Introduction to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Payment Process: Medicare Basics for Health Care Investors" (October 1, 2009)
- "Coverage and Payment for Connected Health Products," MassMEDIC (September 18, 2009)
- "Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) Current Issues and Cases," 11th Annual Emergency Medicine Conference, Massachusetts Hospital Association (July 17, 2009)
- Moderator, "State and Federal Legislative Update," Boston Bar Association (June 8, 2009)
- "Demystifying the HHS/CMS Regulatory Process," Boston Bar Association (May 27, 2009)
- "What Private Parties Should Expect from Health Care Reform in 2009," Right at Home Seminar (May 1, 2009)
- "Demystifying the CMS Regulatory Process," American Health Lawyers' Association (AHLA) Regulatory, Accreditation and Payment Practice Group, AHLA's Annual Medicare and Medicaid Payment Conference, Baltimore, MD (March 26, 2009)
- Frequent lecturer and author on health care legal matters
publications
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The Low-Income Subsidy In The New Medicare Drug Benefit, SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND BIOMEDICAL LAW, November 2005
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Lessons Learned from the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Receivership, BOSTON BAR JOURNAL, May 2001
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International Taxation and the Troubled History of Internal Revenue Code Section 936, SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY TRANSNATIONAL LAW REVIEW, September 1998
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Massachusetts Begins Second Generation of Mental Health Managed Care, Healthcare Financial Management Association, MANAGED CARE JOURNAL, May 1997
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Hospital Tax-Exempt Standards: An Update on the Eve of Health Care Reform, Healthcare Financial Management Association TAXATION JOURNAL, October 1993
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Re-Examining the § 501(c)(3) Status of Hospitals as Tax-Exempt Organizations, TAX NOTES and THE EXEMPT ORGANIZATION TAX REVIEW, July 1991
- Contributor to quarterly newsletter of the Boston Bar Association HEALTH LAW REPORTER