Reisz to Contribute to Stark Law White Paper
Nashville, Tenn., April 14, 2009 – Cindy Reisz, a Member in the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims, is one of 14 leading healthcare attorneys from across the country invited to participate in the American Health Lawyers Association’s Stark Convener. Participants from some of the top law firms in the country will consider the unintended consequences and challenges of the Stark Law, as well as possible reforms. Government representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice and Congress will also be in attendance.
The Stark Law, a part of the Social Security Act, prohibits a physician from referring Medicare or Medicaid program patients for certain "designated health services" to an entity with which the physician or an immediate family member has a "financial relationship," unless the financial relationship meets applicable exception.
The participants will prepare a white paper on the Stark Law identifying issues of concern and possible solutions for government leaders. The white paper is intended to address whether the law is working as intended, what the practical impact of the law has been, what challenges are posed by the law, what unintended consequences it has caused, and what improvements can be made for enforcement. The goal is to prompt government consideration of alternative approaches to the regulation and enforcement of Stark as part of the healthcare reform debate.
Cindy Reisz’s practice involves representing hospitals and health systems, ancillary service providers and large physician groups in transactions, joint ventures, and in regulatory/operational matters. She has written and lectured on issues of interest to healthcare providers, including the Stark Law, fraud and abuse, structuring transactions, reimbursement trends for the aging baby boomers, disease management, and other healthcare related issues. Reisz received her J.D. and B.A. degrees from Vanderbilt University. She recently co-presented a Stark Law case study in Baltimore, Maryland as part of a program titled “Operationalizing Stark: From Complexity to Reality” for the American Health Lawyers Association.
About Bass, Berry & Sims
With more than 230 attorneys representing numerous publicly-traded companies and Fortune 500 businesses, Bass, Berry & Sims has been involved in some of the largest and most significant business transactions and litigation matters in the country. The Healthcare Industry Practice at Bass, Berry & Sims is a broad, integrated and interdisciplinary team of attorneys that brings together the multitude of legal specialties necessary to service one of the largest, most highly regulated industries in the United States. Our firm has participated in the evolution of the healthcare services industry in Nashville, the home of entrepreneurial healthcare in America. This evolution has led us from our representation of proprietary and not-for-profit hospitals, ancillary service providers, large physician groups and long-term care providers to the development and representation of disease management companies, managed care organizations and structuring for-profit/non-profit joint ventures. For more information, visit www.bassberry.com.
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CONTACT: Edward Bowen
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