For Fifth out of Six Years, Akin Gump’s Health Practice Recognized as a Law360 Practice Group of the Year

(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump is proud to report that, for the fifth year out of the last six, Law360 has selected the firm’s health care and life sciences practice as one of its Health Practice Groups of the Year.

Among the engagements for which Akin Gump was recognized are:

• its role as the first firm to file a national lead case challenging the adoption of the “two midnight” rule, which reduced by 0.2 percent Medicare’s payment rate for inpatient services (Shands Jacksonville Medical Center v. Burwell)
• its successful challenge of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) determination that Clarian Health Partners Inc. had to repay $2+ million in Medicare outlier payments.
• its representation of HCA-HealthOne LLC before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB), as it attempted to recoup Medicare payments in a “disproportionate share” matter.

In Shands, the Akin Gump health team, according to partner Christopher Keough, was able to overcome the cost-effectiveness challenge for individual hospitals bringing suit over a very small percentage rate cut by aggregating a group of 420 hospitals. For Clarian, the firm secured a ruling that CMS had violated notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures. And, for HCA-HealthOne, the PRRB ruling resulted in a revised calculation that totaled roughly $40 million for the hospitals involved.

Regarding the practice’s client service, Mr. Keough said, “Part of the value we hope to bring to clients is not just responding to questions but trying to efficiently bring them notice of problems that may be lurking or opportunities that may exist. I think that's something clients greatly appreciate.”

Practice head John Jacob noted, regarding the practice’s nearly 40-year history, “The reason we've been able to maintain the practice for that long is based on the strength of our reimbursement litigation practice, on which the section was founded. We bring not only the force of litigation but also experience and access. The combined litigation and policy expertise is the market differentiator.”

To read the full profile, please click here.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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