The health care industry is one of the driving economic forces in our country and has become one of the most highly regulated industries in the United States, subject to complex and intricate federal and state laws, regulations, and polices. Rapidly changing and evolving health care legislation presents a multitude of challenges to businesses and individuals.
To best navigate the boundless health care laws and regulations, businesses and individuals rely on the assistance of our experienced, knowledgeable attorneys. We regularly advise our clients on legal issues applicable to the health care industry including:
Our attorneys are experienced in the development, implementation, and evaluation of compliance programs for various providers and physicians. Our attorneys have also assisted clients in both preparing for and responding to investigations, surveys, audits, and reviews from both federal, state, and local governmental agencies.
At Wells Marble, our knowledge allows us to provide clients with guidance involving the range of operational issues that confront businesses in the health care industry. These include many issues such as labor and employment, immigration, contract drafting and negotiation, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and employee benefits, insurance coverage, intellectual property protection, tax, and other operational matters. We have dealt with government health care fraud investigations, and we have negotiated numerous settlement agreements and corporate integrity agreements in that respect. Additionally, our team of estate planning attorneys have represented physicians throughout the state to construct individual estate plans to achieve their goals for transfer of wealth with concurrent business and tax planning, including the minimization of estate taxes.
We represent health care entities and providers in the areas of appellate proceedings; administrative issues; bankruptcy matters; labor and employment; products liability; antitrust and ERISA issues. We also assist clients with commercial contracts, denial-of-coverage matters, drug and pharmaceutical issues, medical product or device liability, medical malpractice and professional liability. One of members, Thomas M. Louis, is a former pharmacist with immeasurable intricate knowledge of the health care industry.
Our health care attorneys have guided clients on joint ventures, tax structure, entity formation, financing, and the relationships among physician owners and employees. We also provide tax advice and planning to physician groups and have represented physicians involved in disputes concerning medical staff privileges and licensure. Additionally, we advise health care entities on organizational issues, such as corporate governance, board operations, and bylaw preparation and analysis.