Angela L. Bergman
Angela Bergman represents healthcare providers and companies facing claims of fraud, patient protection violations and government investigations. She represents a broad range of clients in all sectors of the healthcare industry including hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, home health and hospice providers.
More specifically, Angela’s practice encompasses:
- Healthcare Fraud & Abuse – Representing clients in connection with False Claims Act litigation, self-disclosures, internal investigations and responding to governmental inquiries concerning issues of alleged healthcare fraud and abuse conducted by the Department of Justice, United States Attorneys’ Offices, and the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Compliance and Government Investigations – Representing clients through claims brought under the False Claims Act, HIPAA, and other federal legislation. This includes representing companies under civil or administrative investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice.
- Internal Investigations – Conducting internal investigations for public and private companies involving potential corporate compliance matters, such as healthcare fraud violations and corporate wrongdoing.
- Government Contractor Appeals – Representing clients in responding to and, if necessary, appealing the results of payor claims audits, including those performed by Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs), and Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs). Angela regularly assists companies in appealing claim denials, extrapolated overpayment denials and Medicare appeals up through a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.
Angela is an active participant in the firm’s pro bono initiatives, devoting significant efforts to fighting for the constitutional rights of indigent defendants in Tennessee’s public defense system and other criminal justice reform issues in the State of Tennessee. Prior to joining Bass, Berry & Sims, Angela worked as a business consultant for major companies across several industries including healthcare, insurance and financial services.
Memberships
American Bar Association (ABA)
American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA)
Nashville Bar Association (NBA)
Tennessee Bar Association (TBA)
Representative Experience
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Currently serve as outside counsel for a publicly traded senior living in responding to home health and hospice audits.
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Represented owner of ambulance company indicted for Medicare and Medicaid fraud for its transportation of dialysis patients. Following conviction at trial, we persuaded the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the defendant’s aggravated identity theft conviction on the grounds that the defendant did not “use” the identifying information of Medicare beneficiaries within the meaning of the statute merely by misrepresenting how the beneficiaries had been transported. United States v. Medlock, 786 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2015)
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Lead counsel representing senior living companies in qui tam lawsuit alleging that defendants fraudulently billed Medicare for home health services. The district court dismissed this lawsuit on the grounds that the alleged regulatory violation did not satisfy standard for FCA materiality set forth in Supreme Court’s 2016 Escobar decision. U.S. ex rel. Prather v. Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., 265 F. Supp. 3d 782 (M.D. Tenn. 2017)
Publications
Media Mentions & Firm News
Accolades
Vanderbilt Law Review — Notes Development Editor
Vanderbilt Scholastic Excellence Awards — Criminal Law, Corporations, and Litigating the Death Penalty