Thomas Barker, Partner, Foley Hoag
Partner, Foley Hoag, LLP, Boston and
Washington DC; former Acting General Counsel, US Department of
Health and Human Services.
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.
