Cheryl Powell is a Vice President for Health Policy at Applied Policy. She specializes in healthcare services reimbursement and coverage, with a focus on how Medicare’s prospective payment regulations impact hospitals and other healthcare services-related providers.

Before joining Applied Policy, Cheryl spent 16 years at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where she held several senior positions, including Deputy Director of the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight Senior Advisor, and Director of the IT Investment Portfolio Management Group.

In addition to her experience at CMS, Cheryl has held positions at IBM Watson Health, MITRE, and Mathematica Inc., where she provided nationally recognized expertise in Medicare and Medicaid financing; value-based care programs; and the design and implementation of CMS Innovation Center models.

Cheryl holds a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia.