Mintz Levin Attorney Thomas Crane to Testify Before U.S. Sentencing Commission on Guidelines for Health Care Fraud Convictions
2/15/2011
Boston, MA – Tom Crane, a member of the Health Law section and the Health Care Enforcement Defense Group of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., will testify before the United State Sentencing Commission concerning proposed amendments to the U.S. sentencing guidelines, policy statements and commentary.
Mr. Crane, a nationally recognized authority on the laws banning health-related fraud and abuse, will testify at the Commission's hearing on February 16th in Washington, DC. The hearing is being held as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's (ACA) mandate that the Commission strengthen the federal sentencing guidelines for health care fraud convictions.
Among his comments, Mr. Crane discusses the complexities of health care regulations, the breadth of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), and the potential for constitutional infirmities in AKS convictions as a result of the ACA's lowering of the level of proof required under the AKS. He then proposes specific additional Guideline language to resolve ambiguities in the ACA's directive that prosecutors need only present proof at sentencing of the aggregate amount of fraudulent billings to government health care programs and to address his concern that this standard could be turned into a decision rule for courts to use in determining loss even in the face of competing evidence.
An attorney in the firm's Boston and Washington offices, Mr. Crane provides comprehensive fraud and abuse legal services to clients throughout the United States, ranging from defense against government enforcement actions to advice to compliance programs. His work in defending clients against anti-kickback, false claims, and whistleblower allegations includes litigation, internal investigations, voluntary disclosures, and negotiating settlements and Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAs). He has appeared before numerous United States Attorneys' offices, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Mr. Crane's clients have included community and academic hospital systems and executives, post acute care providers, community and academic physicians and practice plans, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit management companies, renal dialysis providers, supply companies, as well as national health care trade associations.
Attorneys in Mintz Levin's Health Law Practice, many of whom have held senior government positions or served as in-house counsel, represent for-profit and non-profit, domestic and international companies in connection with a wide variety of business and legal transactions, challenges and issues that they confront both on a daily basis and in bet-the-company matters. Clients span the full spectrum of the industry, including hospital systems, managed care organizations, laboratories, long-term care providers, durable medical equipment suppliers, behavioral health companies, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, retail pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers.
