Before joining Extend Health this October, John Barkett spent two and a half years in Washington, DC where he contributed to the writing, passage, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the most significant piece of legislation to reform our nation’s health system since Medicare was passed in 1965. As a staff member on the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives, John drafted and negotiated the final details of legislation aimed at reducing fraud in the Medicare program, while providing analysis to his colleagues drafting those portions of the legislation that would reform the private health insurance markets. After the bill’s passage, John joined the staff of the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, where he helped guide the implementation of the sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform, including value-based purchasing, patient safety, and quality measurement in Medicare and state health insurance exchanges. Previously, John worked for athenahealth, Inc., a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company in Watertown, MA, and Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc., a Medicare Advantage plan in Coral Gables, FL. He earned an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College.
