Managing Director
Berkeley Research Group
John Barkett is a Managing Director in BRG’s Healthcare Transactions and Strategy practice, where he counsels health plans, hospital systems, life sciences companies, consumer groups, coalitions and financial institutions, among others, on a range of issues related to transactions in the healthcare space.
Prior to joining BRG, John served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Care Delivery System Reform on the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he covered drug pricing reform, Medicare Advantage and Part D, and value-based care. John was a part of the White House Team that negotiated the drug pricing policies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and the White House lead on implementation of that law through the end of 2022. He also previously served on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an Assistant Scientist and Health Policy Scholar.
John was the Senior Director of Policy Affairs for Willis Towers Watson from 2012-2021. He worked for Extend Health, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012.
Before joining Extend Health, John served on the Health Subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, during which time worked on the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform.
Previously, John worked for athenahealth, Inc., a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company, and Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc., a Medicare Advantage plan.
John earned an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a secondary field in health care policy.