Melissa Dodson Schooley

Melissa Schooley is the Vice President of Health Policy & Government Affairs for Abiomed and part of the extended leadership team. Melissa manages U.S. product reimbursement strategy, government affairs, and regulatory advocacy consistent with Abiomed’s four core principles: recovering hearts and saving lives, leading in technology and innovation, growing shareholder value, and sustaining a winning culture. The company's mission is to change the standard of care to recover more hearts while preserving a Patients First culture.

Melissa specializes in the intersection of reimbursement and healthcare economics, policy, and advocacy. She has led and works closely with our physician partners and patient advocates to share stories of heart recovery to inspire and grow awareness of life-changing therapies. She is responsible for ensuring  Medicare and commercial coverage, coding, and payment for new technologies. Melissa has been a leader in the Abiomed Women’s Initiative to drive awareness of the unique aspects of heart failure in women, including PPCM and cardiomyopathy, and has worked to drive efforts to promote greater diversity in clinical trials and research. Melissa has held leadership roles in payment and legislative advocacy within the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) as Payment Advocacy Committee Chair and has served on the Steering Committee and Executive Advisory Roles within the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), a public-private partnership between FDA, CMS, patients, and industry. Melissa advises and supports Abiomed’s President and Executive leadership on political, legislative, and public relations strategy.

Before Abiomed, Melissa worked for Medtronic, managing legislative, public policy, and advocacy programs, including Citizen Medtronic and The Partnership for Health Policy. She represented the company on Capitol Hill and frequently spoke to physicians and hospital customers on policies impacting the medical technology industry. Melissa worked extensively on Food and Drug Administration legislative matters, directing legislative advocacy on the 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA). She led diabetes advocacy for Medtronic and directed the coalition to successfully advance coverage of CGMs in Medicare.

Melissa has twenty-five years of health care policy, lobbying, and government affairs experience.   Her previous tenure includes leading a Fortune 500 office, Coventry Health Care. As head of government affairs for a managed healthcare company, she supported commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid markets and led legislative strategy surrounding healthcare reform. She previously worked as Director and Counsel of Federal Affairs at the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) and was previously an associate with a D.C. healthcare boutique law firm, Michaels, Wishner & Bonner. 

Melissa served as a law clerk for the D.C. Superior Court and worked on Capitol Hill in the U.S. Senate for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight. 

Melissa holds her law degree from The American University Washington College of Law and a degree in Political Science and Business Administration from James Madison University. She resides in Arlington, Va., with her husband, Patrick, and her two children, Pierce and Sophie.