Pamela L. Barnes brings insider federal health policy experience to Elm Capitol Group

Pamela L. Barnes, founder and managing principal of Elm Capitol Group, is using more than 17 years in federal agencies and biopharma to help health-sector organizations shape policy before decisions are final. Her work spans HHS, EPA, GSK and Bristol Myers Squibb, with a focus on drug pricing, patient access and regulatory strategy.

Why it matters: - Pamela L. Barnes is positioning federal health policy as a business strategy issue, not just a compliance task. - Her approach matters because decisions on drug pricing, coverage and access can shape whether therapies reach patients and whether health systems can absorb the costs. - Elm Capitol Group is built to help organizations influence those outcomes earlier, before rules are finalized.

What happened: - Influential Women featured Pamela L. Barnes, founder and managing principal of Elm Capitol Group. - Barnes launched Elm Capitol Group in early 2026 to advise organizations across the health sector on federal regulatory policy, public affairs and external advocacy strategy. - The firm serves pharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy organizations, trade associations and health nonprofits. - Barnes brings more than 17 years of experience spanning HHS, the EPA, GSK and Bristol Myers Squibb. - More information is available through Pamela L. Barnes' Influential Women profile and Elm Capitol Group.

The details: - Barnes started in public health work analyzing clinical trial results for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer.gov and supporting laboratory quality at the Association of Public Health Laboratories. - At the EPA, Barnes expanded the Water Laboratory Alliance from 10 regional EPA labs into a network spanning state and local labs across 48 states. - Barnes received a Federal Government National Silver Medal Award for that work. - Barnes also staffed the EPA’s Emergency Operations Center during the BP Oil Spill and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. - At HHS, Barnes served under both the Obama and Trump administrations and led a team in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. - Barnes coordinated policy across CMS, FDA, NIH, CDC and other agencies. - Barnes authored and led coordination of the 2015 to 2018 National Health Security Strategy, which aligned federal agencies with 56 states and territories. - At GSK, Barnes led engagement with the HHS General Counsel that secured explicit PREP Act liability protections for the company’s COVID-19 countermeasures. - At Bristol Myers Squibb, Barnes built the Executive Branch Strategy team from scratch and served as the company’s main point of contact with the White House Cancer Moonshot. - Barnes also briefed the CEO and other senior executives on health policy. - As cell therapy lead for Strategic Alliances and Issue Advocacy, Barnes helped secure New Technology Add-on Payment status for a CAR T cell therapy, with a proposed 17% increase in Medicare hospital reimbursement. - Barnes also supported removal of FDA REMS restrictions, which opened access to an estimated 5,000 more patients a year. - Barnes worked on enterprise strategy involving Inflation Reduction Act implementation, the 340B drug pricing program and pharmacy benefit manager reform. - Barnes earned a bachelor’s degree in community health from Brown University and a master’s degree in medical sciences from Boston University School of Medicine. - Barnes serves on the board of The Fibroid Foundation and is a member of Women in Government Relations. - Barnes has spoken on 340B, caregiving and patient access at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, the National Alliance for Caregiving Summit and on Capitol Hill. - Her convening work has been covered by C-SPAN, and USA TODAY has interviewed her.

Between the lines: - Barnes is arguing that the real levers of federal policy sit upstream, in early meetings, coalition-building and unpublicized decision-making. - That view helps explain why Elm Capitol Group emphasizes discretion, relationships and cross-functional coordination across value and access, health economics and outcomes research, commercial, government affairs and legal teams. - The timing of the firm also tracks with a more active federal policy environment around drug pricing and access. - Barnes frames early engagement as especially important because many organizations still respond only after a comment period opens. - Her background in both government and industry gives her credibility with clients that need to navigate agencies as strategic partners.

What's next: - Barnes plans to keep advising mission-driven clients while expanding her work with enterprise leadership teams. - Elm Capitol Group will continue helping clients identify where federal decisions are forming, how they can contribute and which relationships matter most. - Barnes sees the next phase of federal health policy as one in which Medicare drug negotiation, 340B payment cuts and international pricing models continue to reshape the market. - Organizations that build earlier, more coordinated policy capabilities are likely to be better positioned for the next round of decisions.

The bottom line: - Barnes is selling a clear thesis: in Washington, health policy is won early, through relationships, preparation and judgment, long before a rule is published.