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Cassandra L. Paolillo

(she/her/hers)

Of Counsel

[email protected]

+1.617.348.1828

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Cassie’s practice primarily involves advising health care clients on transactional and regulatory matters, including serving as regulatory counsel on health care transactions and assisting clients in establishing and implementing MSO-PC arrangements. She frequently oversees the health care regulatory aspects of complex transactions in the health care industry, including recent private equity investments in pediatric, dental, ambulatory surgery, and addiction treatment providers. She has also served as regulatory counsel to various institutional lenders in financing transactions in connection with the acquisition of health and life science industry companies. Cassie regularly acts as a subject matter expert, advising clients on HIPAA/privacy compliance, telehealth and other digital health matters, corporate practice issues, professional and facility licensing, determinations of need/certificates of need, and Medicare and Medicaid compliance. Cassie also has experience advising non-profit organizations on matters related to formation and corporate governance. 

Throughout her career, Cassie has worked with providers, payors, individual patients, and a range of investors in the health care space, so she understands the unique challenges facing clients in the ever-changing health care landscape. She enjoys working with interdisciplinary teams to come up with creative solutions to her clients’ problems. 

Prior to joining Mintz, Cassie worked as in-house counsel at a national senior living company. There she advised the business on matters related to state and federal health care regulations, physician arrangements, reimbursement, fraud and abuse, and HIPAA/privacy. Cassie’s in-house experience informs current her practice, enabling her to anticipate and relate to clients’ legal and business needs.

A member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, Cassie is particularly passionate about addressing health disparities, focusing on increasing access to reproductive health care and behavioral health services, including substance use disorder treatment. She currently serves on the Board of the South Boston Collaborative Center, a substance abuse and mental health treatment center located in South Boston.

viewpoints

CMS Announces Final Rule on ESRD Treatment Choices Model

September 24, 2020 | Blog | By Cassandra Paolillo

Last week, CMS announced the finalized End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices Model (ETC Model), which will test whether incentivizing home dialysis and kidney transplantation will reduce Medicare expenditures while maintaining or improving the quality of care furnished to beneficiaries with ESRD. This post summarizes how participants are selected, the specific payment changes, and the overall timeline.
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On August 4, CMS posted a proposed rule on CY 2021 Payment Policies, which included important updates about the expansion of Medicare covered telehealth services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we cover this and other important developments related to telehealth access during the pandemic and beyond.
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Senate HELP Committee Signals Support for Permanently Expanding Telehealth Access

June 24, 2020 | Blog | By Cassandra Paolillo, Ellen Janos

Last week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (“Senate HELP”) held a hearing entitled “Telehealth: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," during which the Committee members expressed support for permanently expanding access to telehealth services. In this blog post, we discuss the Committee's proposals and the additional steps needed to permanently expand access to telehealth.
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In an interview yesterday, CMS administrator Seema Verma expressed support for permanently expanding access to telehealth services after the COVID-19 public health emergency resolves. Here, we explore the nature and duration of the temporary executive and regulatory orders, emergency legislation, and sub-regulatory guidance, which have resulted greater access to telehealth while leaving a fair amount of uncertainty as to what the future of telehealth looks like.
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Earlier this month, Blue Bell Creameries L.P. (Blue Bell) agreed to plead guilty to charges that it distributed contaminated ice cream products that were linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak.  The Blue Bell outbreak made headlines in 2015, largely because it resulted in multiple cases of listeriosis and, tragically, three deaths.  Aside from the obvious health-related consequences to the public and reputational harm to the nationally-known manufacturer of sweet treats, the basis for the various charges and causes of action related to the outbreak demonstrate the broad range of legal consequences, both civil and criminal, that can result from the failure to address food safety requirements and regulatory compliance more generally.
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On August 22, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) announced a new proposed rule (the “Proposed Rule”) amending 42 CFR part 2 (“Part 2”), which is aimed at protecting patient records created by federally funded programs for the treatment of substance use disorder (“SUD”). The Proposed Rule is aimed at alleviating these concerns within the constraints of the underlying statute, while also addressing the increasingly urgent need to streamline SUD services in light of the opioid epidemic. Here we’ll discuss some of the major changes under the Proposed Rule while highlighting the challenges that remain.
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Last week, President Trump signed an “Executive Order on Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First.” The order, which “seeks to enhance the ability of patients to choose the healthcare that is best for them,” includes a number of provisions requiring the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, Treasury and others to pass regulations to increase transparency for patients. The following is a summary of the executive order and a brief overview of what providers and others in the healthcare industry can anticipate going forward.
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Last week, Mintz and ML Strategies welcomed stakeholders and thought leaders from across the pharmacy and pharmaceutical industry to the Boston Office for the 4th Annual Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Industry Summit.
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Last week, a U.S. district court judge in the Southern District of Florida upheld a magistrate judge’s decision to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) allegations against a compounding pharmacy, its private equity firm owner, and two individuals. DOJ filed its complaint in intervention last February against the pharmacy, Patient Care America (PCA); its private equity backer, Riordan Lewis & Haden, Inc.; and two individual executives. The government alleged that the parties engaged in an illegal kickback scheme that resulted in the submission of false claims to TRICARE for expensive compounded drugs. This case is reportedly the first in which the federal government intervened against a private equity firm owner.
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Independent Laboratory Settles Medical Necessity Allegations

February 20, 2019 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Cassandra Paolillo

The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a $1.99 million False Claims Act (FCA) settlement with GenomeDx Biosciences Corp. (“GenomeDx”), a laboratory headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia with operations in San Diego. The matter arose as the result of a qui tam case brought by two former employees in September 2017.
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News & Press

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Mintz is pleased to share that Member Natalie Groot and Of Counsel Cassandra Paolillo have been selected by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as 2024 Excellence in Law ‘Up & Coming Lawyer’ honorees.
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Mintz is pleased to announce that 32 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 27 attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2023.
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Mintz is pleased to announce that 120 firm attorneys have been recognized as leaders by Best Lawyers® in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
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35 Mintz attorneys have been named Massachusetts Super Lawyers and 25 Mintz attorneys have been named Massachusetts Rising Stars for 2022.
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Events & Speaking

Speaker
Apr
4
2023

Tracking Technologies in Health Care

Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation

Online Event

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Panelist
Dec
1
2020

Telehealth: What's Next?

Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation (WBL) Event

Online Event

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Recognition & Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch - Health Care Law (2024)

  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars: Health Care (2022 – 2023)

  • Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly: Up & Coming Lawyer (2024)

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Involvement

  • Member, American Health Law Association
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Board Member, South Boston Collaborative Center
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Cassandra L. Paolillo

(she/her/hers)

Of Counsel

Boston