On the same day the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the blockbuster King v. Burwell case in Washington, healthcare lawyers will assemble in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to discuss other important and contentious legal topics at the American Bar Association's Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law conference.
The scheduled keynote speaker on Thursday will be Daniel Levinson, who has served as HHS' inspector general for more than a decade.
A primary focus of his agency's work this year will center on monitoring implementation of the Affordable Care Act, including exchange operations and subsidy disbursements.
Several conference panels will discuss data privacy, an issue magnified by Anthem's recent data breach, which exposed the health-record data of 80 million of the insurance giant's customers and has prompted more than 50 class-action lawsuits.
Recent litigation involving anti-competitive practices also will be a major topic.
A panel featuring lawyers involved in the case will examine a federal court ruling in January unwinding Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke's Health System's acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group.
The St. Luke's case generated considerable discussion during a forum on healthcare competition sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission last week in Washington.
Dr. Mark McClellan, a former CMS administrator, said he was pleased with the St. Luke's ruling and that it already has spurred healthcare companies to re-evaluate their acquisition strategies. “That kind of enforcement action is just absolutely critical,” he said.
