Center for Health Law & Policy

Driving Innovative Solutions in an Era of Reform

Creative ideas to improve the nation’s health care system can, and do, come from every corner of society. Providers. Policy makers. Industry leaders. Consumers. Academic scholars. All of these groups and more have a stake in promoting improvement. But the best and most effective ideas are conceived when stakeholders share diverse perspectives and collaborate to design solutions.  In light of the recent health care reform effort, the Center for Health Law & Policy will unite a broad and diverse set of stakeholders with varying policy dispositions for a frank and honest discussion about how to strengthen our health care system for the 21st century.  

With a nationally recognized Health Law practice and significant bench strength in Government Law; Communications; Employment, Labor and Benefits; Corporate and Securities Law  and other practices touching health care—as well as an extensive network of industry and congressional contacts—Mintz Levin is ideally positioned to bring  diverse stakeholders to the table. The new Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy, based in our nation’s capital, creates opportunities for:

• Engaging in productive debate about the future of health care;
• Developing and supporting creative initiatives that address the most pressing issues facing our health care system;
• Generating independent reports and other content for the benefit of all stakeholders; and
• Promoting novel solutions to drive health care improvements.

During this historic period, as the courts begin to resolve the challenges posed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), policy makers continue to spar over the law’s implementation, and society considers its implications, the Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy provides a forum for thoughtful discussion and the development of effective health care solutions.

Through presentations, events, and white papers, Mintz Levin’s Center for Health Law & Policy disseminates the best innovative ideas developed at the Center and in collaboration with partners and other leading private and public organizations at the forefront of the health policy debate. The Center’s early initiatives include establishing a partnership with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) and launching a national coalition to transform the delivery of advanced illness care.

Promoting Medical-Legal Partnerships

Medical-legal partnerships (MLP) offer a new model for improving the health of the most vulnerable among us. Handicapped by conditions that make it difficult to access or benefit from health care, these individuals need assistance from legal professionals who can help them address underlying concerns—including issues such as substandard housing or unfair labor practices—that may be contributing to their health problems or making recovery more difficult. By bringing lawyers into the medical clinics where problems first surface, MLP can provide vulnerable patients with holistic solutions that really address their needs while alleviating the costly and unnecessary burdens placed on health care providers by avoidable interventions. 

Mintz Levin’s association with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership dates back to the organization’s inception. The firm has been a pro bono partner of the NCMLP since its founding at the Boston Medical Center in 1993. Today the NCMLP supports the expansion and advancement of MLP through technical assistance, the dissemination of best practices, and coordination of national research and policy activities related to health disparities and vulnerable populations.  In 2010, MLPs had been incorporated into over 225 hospitals and health centers in 39 states with dramatic growth expected over the next decade.  Click here to download the National Center for Medical Legal Partnership brochure.

Improving Care for the Critically Ill

Health care for Americans with advanced illness is inconsistent and often inadequate. Although providing care for the chronically and critically ill is contributing to the unsustainable growth in health care costs, studies indicate that increased spending on care for this population has not resulted in higher quality care or better outcomes.  Quite the contrary. 

The Center for Health Law & Policy is launching a national coalition which will assemble a diverse, non-partisan group of stakeholders—including patient and consumer advocacy groups, health care professionals and providers, private sector stakeholders, faith-based organizations, and health care payers—to transform advanced illness care by empowering consumers, changing the health care delivery system, improving public and private policies, and enhancing provider capacity. Together, the coalition’s members are working to develop and implement sustainable models of care delivery for the sickest and most vulnerable Americans and to launch a national public engagement campaign designed to empower both consumers and providers.

For more information on the Mintz Levin Center for Health Law & Policy,
please contact us.

Related Professionals:

Alexander Hecht
Kevin M. Kappel
John "Tom" Koutsoumpas