Our Approach. We offer solutions-driven resources in all aspects of legislative and public policy advocacy, producing meaningful outcomes at important federal agencies affecting health care coverage, payment and quality, including the Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services Departments and the congressional committees that fund and oversee them.
We also provide crucial guidance, strategies and access to decision makers at Washington’s “scorekeeping” entities—the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget—where the success or failure of policy goals is often ultimately decided. Our connections to federal health policy research, support and oversight agencies, including the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, the Office of Inspector General and the Institute of Medicine, among others, distinguishes us as a full-service, wide-scope health policy asset that creates opportunity for advancement on all branches of the policy decision tree.
Our team is politically balanced and bipartisan, and is able to affect outcomes with senior officials and staff in both parties, regardless of which controls the congressional majority or the White House.
Experience
Since 2004, we have achieved significant victories for clients in most major Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Act and tax legislation and in federal regulations implementing those statutes, including, most recently, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Some notable highlights include:
- Protected numerous at-risk sectors from payment reductions in connection with physician fee schedule legislation
- Protected a unique class of products from a Durable Medical Equipment Competitive Bidding Program and achieved broad protections for certain long term care facilities and specialized Medicare Advantage plans
- Led dialysis industry efforts to secure a favorable bundled payment system, quality improvement program, and market basket updating mechanism; and led imaging industry advocacy to passage of first-time accreditation programs
- Created important legal and payment policy change for rehabilitation hospitals
- Secured authority for vaccine administration reimbursement for a Medicare Part D vaccine
- Obtained favorable treatment of cost sharing services associated with a major preventive service
- Secured increased payment of more than $400 million for certain clients that provide Medicare services to beneficiaries with chronic health conditions
Bringing Value to Our Clients
We offer comprehensive services unique in Washington that assist stakeholders at every level of the policy making process from concept, drafting, scoring, political support and “final passage” to implementation success. In the administrative process, we anticipate and analyze rulemakings and guidance and affect changes for clients between proposed and final regulations. We provide political advice and practical policy guidance at every stage. Our services are deeply substantive and strongly supported by ongoing relationships across the spectrum of decision makers and influencers. Our team is closely connected to the policy making process, which distinguishes our practice from others that simply provide “access” or legal analysis alone. Our Legislative & Public Policy Group provides both, in closely coordinated and collaborative fashion, that produces persistently positive results.