Health Care Legislative & Public Policy

Alston & Bird’s health care legislative and public policy attorneys and public policy advisors specialize in representing clients before Congress and the executive branch, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Whether briefing members of Congress and their staff on issues of client importance or drafting and commenting on proposed legislation and regulations, we actively assist clients in all aspects of legislative and public policy advocacy.

EXPERIENCE

Representing clients with public policy concerns demands firsthand knowledge of the policy-making process and those in the position of making policy decisions.  Alston & Bird has a proven track record of achieving policy success, as well as protecting the interest of clients.  The following are a few recent examples of ways in which we delivered successfully for our clients:

• Secured authority for vaccine administration reimbursement for a Medicare Part D vaccine
• Protected numerous at-risk clients from billions of dollars in proposed payment reductions in recent Medicare legislation
• Developed strategy for a privately held company with annual revenues upward of $2 billion that sought new indications for approved medical imaging contrast agents and explored regulatory pathways for combination drug-device products that would deliver contrast agents
• Secured increased payment of more than $400 million for certain clients that provide Medicare services to beneficiaries with chronic health conditions
• Garnered positive legislative changes for two out of only three health care providers in a bill that extracted $50 billion in payment decreases to other health care providers

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

Our team includes individuals with direct experience in the policy side of health care legislation, including a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), former senior staff from the executive branch, such as a senior policy advisor at CMS and a deputy assistant to President Clinton, senior congressional policymakers and a former aide to three members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee.  This range in policy and legal talent enables us to handle diverse and complex issues in a way that is unparalleled.  

UNIQUE AMONG COUNSEL

Our health care legislative and policy team has the significant advantage of including two former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders – Senators Bob Dole and Tom Daschle – both resident in our Washington office and champions of many health care issues in their Senate Finance Committee and leadership roles. We have authoritative knowledge of the legislative and administrative policies and processes, and we work with the key decision-makers who impact health care providers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and trade associations.  We are dedicated policy professionals with proven success.