Health Care

Our attorneys assist clients in a number of areas unique to the health care industry, including regulatory matters, third party reimbursement issues, licensure matters, certificates of need and counseling in the avoidance of fraud and abuse.

We guide clients.
As the health care industry continues to change at a pace that cannot be matched by the regulatory structure, many innovations do not fit neatly into existing categories.  We rise to this challenge and guide clients, together with their partners, investors and regulators, through uncharted waters, framing the discourse in ways that simplify the implementation of innovation and benefit our clients.

We regularly advise clients, and negotiate with regulatory agencies, on questions of first impression.  We also counsel clients on legislative strategies. On behalf of our health care clients, we also routinely handle issues common to all complex corporate entities, such as mergers and acquisitions, real estate matters, financings, contract matters, joint ventures, and the range of conventional to complex tax issues generally faced by businesses and not-for-profit organizations.

We practice preventive law.
To the extent possible, we practice preventive law.  We are results-oriented and seek to insulate our clients from unnecessary litigation or regulatory action by being involved in the planning stages of new initiatives and transactions. However, litigation is sometimes unavoidable, and our litigation attorneys represent our health care clients before state and federal courts and administrative agencies on a regular basis.

Representative matters
Posternak health care attorneys have years of experience in government and private practice.  Our experience includes:

Providers

• Negotiating and structuring the leasing, acquisition, and taxable and tax-exempt financing of health care facilities.
• Structuring and documenting joint ventures among hospitals, physicians and other health care providers in a number of service modalities.
• Working with hospitals to develop and implement programs to recruit needed physicians to their communities in compliance with myriad federal and state regulatory and tax law requirements.
• Advising private equity funds investing in regional or nationwide systems of sub-acute providers.
• Counseling providers on the avoidance of fraud and abuse and self-referrals and on the development of compliance plans.
• Organizing physician-owned ambulatory surgical centers and representing the companies on financing, employment and management matters.

Insurers

• Structuring a managed care plan for a major HMO and negotiating contracts with participating providers.
• Representing a regional health insurer in joint ventures to develop (a) consumer directed health plan products and (b) national, open-access health plan products targeting companies with employees located in multiple states.

General

• Representing debtors and secured creditors in all phases of health care bankruptcies, with particular emphasis on licensure, Medicare and Medicaid ramifications of bankruptcy.
• Representing health care providers and insurers before various state and federal regulatory agencies on licensing, certification and reimbursement matters.
• Counseling clients on legislative strategies involving reimbursement, licensure and other matters.
• Counseling clients on the legal, regulatory and practical aspects of their contractual relationships with vendors, employees, physicians, payors, customers and other providers.
• Representing hospitals, physicians and other licensed professionals in disciplinary proceedings, both under a facility’s medical staff by laws or before the licensing board.
• Counseling clients on the sale or purchase of health care companies or lines of business, including federal, state and local tax and tax exemption issues.

Our clients include:
Hospitals and health care systems
Skilled nursing facilities and chains
Assisted living facilities
Physician group practices
Ambulance services
Diagnostic imaging centers
HMOs and other managed care organizations
Home health agencies
Durable medical equipment suppliers
Ambulatory surgical centers
Allied/health professionals
Social service agencies
Hospices
Community health centers
Clinics
Complementary health care providers

Health Care: Related Services Areas

Health Care: Professionals

Health Care: Publications