Governmental Advocacy

We have helped advance our clients' positions in connection with recent major health legislation, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, the Balanced Budget Reform Act of 1999, and the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000. We have presented our health care, pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology clients' views to Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, to the various Congressional Committees with jurisdiction over health care matters, and to state and local legislatures. Our work involves lobbying and legislative advocacy, formulating strategy, establishing alliances with other groups, arranging necessary meetings with key members or their staffs, preparing talking points, legislative summaries and testimony, and drafting proposed legislative language.

Many health care issues are also resolved by the various administrative agencies, such as CMS, OIG, the State Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Drug Enforcement Agency, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in addition to numerous state and local agencies. We work with our clients to bring to the agencies' attention particular issues created by government rules and regulations. In addition, we often analyze regulations and draft comments on various regulatory initiatives, such as the new federal privacy rules required by HIPAA, recent amendments to the federal "safe harbor" regulations issued under the federal anti-kickback law, the Stark self-referral law and the negotiated rulemaking on administrative and coverage rules for clinical laboratories.