Thomas Barker has been a partner at Foley Hoag since March of 2009. Tom focuses his practice on complex federal and state health care legal and regulatory matters with a special expertise in Medicare and Medicaid law including coverage, reimbursement, and regulatory oversight. In May of 2019, he was appointed as a commissioner of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), an advisory body that provides policy advice to Congress and the states on the Medicaid and CHIP programs. He is one of the authors of the firm's Medicaid & the Law blog, www.medicaidandthelaw.com, which highlights and explains current legal and policy issues in the Medicaid program.
Prior to joining the firm, he was acting General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and General Counsel of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Since arriving at Foley Hoag, Tom has represented health care providers and payers. He represents his clients before the United States Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Tom also provides pro-bono services on behalf of support organizations representing North Korean refugees living in the United States and Seoul, South Korea, and he has represented multiple individual North Korean refugees on immigration matters before the Department of Homeland Security, including before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Prior to coming to Foley Hoag, Tom served in a succession of high-level federal health care policy positions throughout the Administration of President George W. Bush. 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, Tom oversaw a staff of some 450 attorneys responsible for attesting to the legal sufficiency of every regulation and interpretive guidance published by the Department. In that role, he provided legal advice to Secretary Leavitt, along with the Administrator of CMS and Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Tom played a key role in the implementation of every major health policy initiative enacted during his time at HHS, including the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Medicare Part D) and the Medicare Advantage programs. He also chaired policy briefings on Medicare and Medicaid policy at HHS, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House.
Prior to his service at HHS, Tom was regulatory counsel to the Massachusetts Hospital Association during the 1990s. Prior to that, he worked for members of the House of Representatives serving on the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Ways and Means. Until May of 2018, he served as a member of the adjunct faculties of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and Suffolk University School of Law.
