Crowell & Moring Bolsters Health Care Group with Two High-Level Partner Additions

Washington, D.C. – June 3, 2013: Crowell & Moring LLP has strategically expanded its Health Care Group with the addition of two partners to the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Troy A. Barsky joins the firm from his key policy position with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where he served as director of the CMS Division of the Technical Payment Policy, Chronic Care Policy Group. In addition, Christine Clements (formerly Christine Rinn), a partner with Crowell & Moring from 2005 to 2011, now returns to the firm from Aetna Inc., where she held the position of chief Medicare counsel. 

"With the government's continued focus on health care reform, and a rapidly changing health care payment and delivery environment, Troy and Christine are well positioned to provide timely and insightful guidance to a broad range of our clients in the health care industry," said John T. Brennan Jr., co-chair of Crowell & Moring's Health Care Group. "At CMS, Troy has been at the forefront of many cutting-edge issues as this new environment is shaped, including Accountable Care Organizations and related fraud and abuse implications. He has contributed to the development of key regulatory authorities which our clients are now grappling with, and has worked closely with legislative officials. Equally important to Crowell & Moring's health care client base, Christine returns to the firm bringing her unique in-house counsel experience and many years of private practice work to our clients who are facing complex regulatory issues, particularly involving the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug programs, as well as privacy law developments. Our clients are looking for innovative problem solvers and practical advisors who can tell them what is coming next and how best to manage it, and they get that at the highest level with Troy and Christine."

Barsky has 11 years of health care fraud and abuse, regulatory, and public policy legal experience. While at CMS, he helped draft and implement the most recent Stark law regulations and oversaw CMS' Stark Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP). During his tenure at CMS, he also focused on payment issues related to fee-for-service Medicare. In addition, Barsky was part of the CMS team that developed the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the new health care delivery models encouraging the development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). Previously, he served in the HHS Office of the General Counsel (OGC), CMS Division in the Program Integrity Group, where he focused on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse enforcement matters. Additionally, he handled False Claims Act cases, including pharmaceutical and medical device-related issues. 

At Crowell & Moring, Barsky will have a robust practice counseling and advising clients on risk and economic issues arising under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), shaping innovative care delivery transactions,  assessing and ensuring compliance, and doing fraud and abuse defense work. He will also focus on assisting clients with Stark law issues and Medicare overpayment recovery, and CMS and HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) self-disclosures, and will draw on his regulatory government experience to serve as a leading resource for regulatory and policy guidance, including review and comment on legislative initiatives.

"Health care reform is driving rapid change in the health care industry and the Affordable Care Act has given government broad new authorization to revamp Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as private insurance markets. I am thrilled to bring the unique perspective I gained working on these issues at CMS to Crowell & Moring. With my hands on experience and practical knowledge, I aim to remove the mystery associated with Government decision-making for clients and offer strategies in which they may thrive. I look forward to joining this group of exceptionally talented lawyers at Crowell & Moring, a firm that has demonstrated its commitment to client service and a collegial culture," said Barsky.

As chief Medicare counsel at Aetna, one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, Clements worked on a number of strategic and product development initiatives. She had a particular focus on planning the integration of the Medicare business operations related to Aetna's acquisition of Coventry Health Care, Inc., working on Aetna's collaborative Medicare Advantage Program joint ventures with provider partners, and addressing matters related to sequestration.

With over 25 years of experience handling health insurance, managed care, and privacy law issues, Clements returns to her practice at Crowell & Moring to advise clients on federal health care government contract programs, with a particular emphasis on the Medicare Advantage Program, the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, Medicaid managed care, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, the Medicare and Medicaid Financial Alignment Demonstration Initiative, and the array of state and federal laws that impact health care payors. Based on her experience working on health care government contracts, transactional matters, and privacy issues, Clements will also advise clients in areas including application requirements, rate development and bidding, medical loss ratio and other financial and reporting requirements, risk adjustment, provider collaboration, audit, fraud and abuse, and compliance programs.

"As key provisions of the health care reform law go into effect over the next few years, I will be able to draw upon my private and in-house counsel experience to help clients navigate the complex and ever changing regulatory landscape. I have worked with the lawyers at Crowell & Moring for years as a colleague, and then as a client, and am deeply honored to return to the firm and the remarkable health care team," said Clements.

Barsky received his J.D., cum laude, from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.S. from Cornell University. Clements received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. from George Washington University.

The arrival of Barsky and Clements continues the expansion of Crowell & Moring's services for health industry clients. The firm has brought in 13 partners into its Washington, D.C. and California offices since early 2011 who focus on serving health industry clients.

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with more than 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Anchorage, London, and Brussels.