Health Law & Policy Matters distills the issues for our busy readers as well as shares creative ideas about improving the nation’s health care system. It’s the goal of the blog’s editor and contributors—Mintz Levin attorneys and a government relations professional from ML Strategies—to highlight the most relevant information about health care reform, including HIPAA, Medicare, ACOs, fraud and abuse, enforcement, compliance, regulatory challenges, and other issues facing providers, insurers, employers, employees, and individuals.
Mintz Levin is an AmLaw 100 firm with a nationally recognized Health Law Practice and significant strength in other practice areas that cross-over into health care, such as Government Law; Employment, Labor & Benefits; and Corporate & Securities. Together with ML Strategies, our consulting affiliate, the firm established the Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy to bring together industry leaders and policy makers to advance ideas and solutions for the health care system.
To read more about our Heath Law Practice and its specialized capabilities, visit the Services page.
Editors
Karen Lovitch
Karen is a Member in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and leads the Health Law Practice. She counsels health care clients on regulatory, transactional, and operational issues as well as on the legal, practical, and fraud and abuse implications of business arrangements. In 2007, she was recognized as an Outstanding Young Healthcare Lawyer in Nightingale’s Healthcare News. Karen is a frequent writer and speaker on issues confronting laboratories and others in the health care industry.
Daria Niewenhous
Daria is a Member in the firm’s Health Law Practice and practices in the Boston office. She focuses her practice on general corporate matters; fraud and abuse; HIPAA compliance; risk management; contract negotiation; regulatory; licensing; and certification, medical staff, and managed care issues. Her clients include individuals as well as corporate and institutional health care provides. In 2008, she was recognized as an Outstanding Hospital Lawyer by Nightingale’s Healthcare News. Daria frequently speaks and writes about health care topics, including HIPAA, telemedicine, fraud and abuse, managed care, and violence in the workplace.
Contributors
Brian Dunphy
Brian is an Associate in the firm’s Litigation and Health Law practices in the Boston office, and also is part of the firm’s Health Care Enforcement Defense Group. He focuses his practice on litigation and health care matters involving investigations and voluntary disclosures and has defended clients against allegations of false claims, whistleblower claims, and in SEC investigations and enforcement proceedings. For his commitment to pro bono work, Brian was selected to participate in the Boston Bar Association’s 2010–2011 Public Interest Leadership Program.
Kevin Kappel
Kevin is a Manager of Government Relations in ML Strategies’ office in Washington, D.C. He focuses on health care policy issues, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and other related health care reform legislation. Kevin’s clients include health care stakeholders, such as payors, providers, pharmaceutical and device companies, employers, nonprofit and industry organizations, and health IT companies involved with government relations and public affairs projects.
Pamela Kramer
Pamela is an Associate in the firm’s Health Law Practice and is based in its New York office. Her practice focuses on health care transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financing, and contracting for health care providers, as well as general corporate matters.
Brian Platton
Brian is a Member in the firm’s Health Law Practice and is based in its New York office. His clients include managed care companies, insurers, academic medical centers, hospital systems, pharmaceutical manufacturers, investors, venture capital and private equity funds, life sciences companies, and information technology companies. He is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2011 and has been recognized as an “Outstanding Healthcare Transaction Lawyer” in Nightingale’s Healthcare News in 2007. A frequent panel speaker, he has presented before the Practising Law Institute, the American Bar Association, and the New York State Bar Association among others..
Stephanie Willis
Stephanie is an Associate in Mintz Levin’s Health Law Practice. Prior to joining the firm, she served as an associate counsel in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Counsel to the Inspector General, where she focused on health care enforcement matters involving the False Claims Act, the Social Security Act, the Physician Self-Referral Act, the anti-kickback statute, EMTALA, and other administrative actions. During law school, she interned at the Health Care Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Massachusetts Division of Insurance.
