
Rachel’s practice involves a variety of regulatory, compliance, and transactional matters for a broad range clients across the health care industry, including health care systems, managed care organizations, pharmacies, device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, long-term and post-acute care providers, and private equity firms investing in the health care industry.
Rachel combines her industry knowledge and her deep understanding of the complex legal frameworks regulating the health care industry to provide her clients with practical, strategic guidance that supports innovation and business objectives. She is particularly well versed in the federal anti-kickback statute, the Stark Law, state fraud and abuse laws, beneficiary inducement prohibitions, provider-based rules, Medicare and Medicaid program requirements, and the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act. She routinely advises clients on the legal, practical, and fraud and abuse implications of business arrangements and sales and marketing practices.
Rachel regularly assists with implementing effective health care compliance programs for clients in various health care sectors, including managed care organizations, health systems, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, to name a few. She has assisted both with developing brand new compliance programs for health care companies just starting out and maturing existing compliance programs to support health care companies’ efforts to expand. During a three-month secondment from Mintz, she also served as the interim chief compliance officer for a nonprofit managed care organization that offers Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and Marketplace health plans.
On the transactional side, Rachel frequently serves as health care regulatory counsel in both M&A transactions and private equity investments, involving managed care organizations, pharmacies, and a range of health care providers. She has experience in complex due diligence, contracting matters, identifying fraud and abuse risks, and advising on regulatory issues relevant to the target.
Previously, Rachel was a compliance attorney with Sentara Healthcare, a health care system with 12 acute care hospitals and more than 300 sites of care in Virginia and North Carolina. Focusing on the physician contracting process, Rachel developed strategic solutions to operational problems and provided legal support for compliance issues across the system. Her in-house experience informs her pragmatic, business-savvy counsel to health care industry clients.
An active member of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section, Rachel assisted in drafting several revisions to the group’s reference guide, Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Practical Perspectives, and organized and moderated a panel of senior government attorneys for an ABA networking event. She is frequently invited to speak on health care compliance and other health law matters. She is also a frequent contributor to the firm’s Health care Viewpoints.
Education
- William and Mary Law School (JD)
- University of Tennessee (BA)
Experience
- Served as the Interim Chief Compliance Officer at CareSource, an Ohio managed care organization offering Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace plans.
- Acted as special counsel for the initial public offering of Blued, China’s largest LGBT dating app and surrogacy facilitator.
- Represented a health care provider in a self-disclosure to CMS for potential Stark Law violations.
- Represented a health care provider under investigation by the Department of Justice for alleged violations of the anti-kickback statute and Stark Law.
Involvement
- Member, American Health Lawyers Association (2011-present)
- Member, Health Law Section, American Bar Association (2016-present)
- Vice Chair, Health Law Committee of the Young Lawyers Division, American Bar Association (2017-2018)
- Member, Health Care Compliance Association (2014-2016)
Viewpoints
CMS Announces One-Year Delay in Finalizing Highly Anticipated Stark Law Reform
August 27, 2020 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
DOJ Announces Criminal Charges against Lab Executive Accused of Fraudulently Promoting COVID-19 Tests
June 11, 2020 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
CMS Relaxes Medicare and Medicaid Ordering Requirements for COVID-19 Testing and Finalizes Coverage of Antibody Testing
May 1, 2020 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
CMS Releases Several Stark Law Waivers for Use during the COVID-19 National Emergency
April 1, 2020 | Blog | By Theresa Carnegie, Rachel Yount
Boards of Pharmacy Nationwide Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic
March 26, 2020 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
HHS Proposed Changes to AKS and Stark Law: Patient Engagement and Support Safe Harbor
February 20, 2020 | Video | By Rachel Yount
Growing Number of States Enact Drug Pricing Transparency Laws
January 23, 2020 | Blog | By Rachel Yount
HHS Proposes Sweeping Changes to AKS and Stark Law, Part 6: Proposed Changes to the AKS Related to Beneficiary Inducement
December 18, 2019 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount, Jane Haviland
HHS Proposes Sweeping Changes to AKS and Stark Law, Part 5: Proposed Changes to Key Stark Law Requirements and Numerous Stark Law Exceptions
November 21, 2019 | Blog | By Karen Lovitch, Rachel Yount
CMS Finalizes Changes Expanding the Scope of the Open Payments Program
November 18, 2019 | Blog | By Brian Dunphy, Rachel Yount
News & Press
How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 1
December 18, 2020
How New Kickback Rules Benefit Health Care Industry: Part 2
December 18, 2020
Events
HHS’s Holiday Gift to the Health Care Industry: Historic Changes to the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law Regulations
View the Webinar Recording
