Michael James Barnett

Michael James Barnett is the Director of Government Relations at Powers, focusing on healthcare. He has extensive experience in developing and implementing government relations strategies and policies to protect and promote the clients’ interests.

During the course of his career, Michael has focused on passing priority legislation, shaping important regulatory and legislative proposals, and advancing significant federal initiatives within the Legislative and Administrative branches of the U.S. Federal Government.

Michael served as a Director of Government Affairs at ADVION (previously referred to as the National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL)), where he worked on issues that include, but are not limited to, Medicare (Parts A, B, and C), Medicaid, private payer, single-payer and patient. As part of his work, Michael represented the interests of leading providers and suppliers of ancillary services to the long-term and post-acute care sector, both on Capitol Hill and at various federal agencies.  Michael also tracked annual regulatory payment rules from CMS and organized and drafted comment letters in response to various proposed policies.  Additionally, Michael engaged and collaborated with various healthcare coalitions addressing issues related to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, clinical laboratories, portable x-ray, rehab therapy, and disability, among others.

Michael graduated with special distinction from the University of Mississippi, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in English. He received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Mississippi College School of Law in 2016.

Michael joined Powers in 2023, after being a Legislative Fellow with the Firm in 2017.