Long Term Care

The Long Term Care practice at Montgomery McCracken is a team of lawyers who recognize the complexities of advising such a diverse and heavily regulated industry.  With over sixty long term care clients, we are experienced and proficient in all areas of the law including health law, labor and employment law, employee benefits, nonprofit and corporate law, tax law, real estate compliance, tax-exempt financing, and government relations.  Additionally, the Firm is recognized nationally for its strong litigation department, critical to long term care providers when litigation cannot be avoided.

We counsel our clients regarding many long term care matters, in particular federal and state regulatory and licensure maters as well as Medicare, Medicaid and Third Party Payment Rules. 

Counseling on long term care federal and state regulatory and licensure maters includes:

• facility licensing and surveys, including nursing homes, hospices, home health agencies, pharmacies, adult day centers, MH/MR residential facilities, personal care homes (assisted living facilities), and continuing care retirement communities
• professional licensing and certification of physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, nursing home administrators, and psychologists
• confidentiality and medical records
• end of life issues
• admissions issues
• transfer agreements
• policies and procedures

Counseling on Medicare, Medicaid and Third Party Payment Rules includes:

• prospective payment system versus cost-based system
• consolidated billing
• conditions of participation
• managed care contracting
• assignment of benefits
• change of ownership issues
• "under arrangement" contracts
• part B billing
• relationships among SNFs, hospices, and home care providers
• billing agreements

Representing long term care providers for many years, the lawyers at Montgomery McCracken have formed an internal Long Term Care Committee.  This committee is comprised of representatives from different disciplines affording us the opportunity to provide up-to-date relevant and innovative services to our clients.  Through seminars and meetings, we are able to invite our clients to share information with us and enable us to keep them updated on changes in the law that may affect them.  In addition, many of our lawyers serve on the Boards of long term providers, advise long term care trade associations and provide leadership to their fundraising committees.  This type of partnership allows us to better understand the challenges faced by our clients.

Representative clients include:

• nursing homes
• continuing care retirement communities
• personal care homes (assisted living faculties)
• home health agencies

In recent years we have achieved significant victories for our long term care clients. Representative engagements include:

• the structure of a unique shared compliance plan for a group of otherwise unrelated nursing homes with a common religious affiliation;

• formation of a limited liability company between a major acute care health system and an independent skilled nursing facility to operate an adult day program;

• defense of a residential treatment facility before Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Bureau of Hearings and Appeals on Licensure Revocation;

• representation of a nursing home in voluntarily closing its skilled nursing facility and converting the license to the desired lower level of care;

• representation of a skilled nursing facility at an Orphans' Court hearing in a "right to die" case;

• representation of a skilled nursing facility in negotiations with the U.S. Attorneys Office on federal claims;

• representation of a residential facility for children in a reorganization of its multiple facilities and programs;

• representation of a national nonprofit group of CCRCs in a reorganization of its facilities and programs;

• representation of a nursing school in establishing an adult day care center through leasing and developing an appropriate neighborhood facility;

• assistance to individual nursing homes in developing compliance programs to reduce exposure to liability under the fraud and abuse laws and self-referral laws;

• assistance to a long term care provider in designing and implementing affiliation arrangements to enable it to enter into risk-sharing agreements with hospital systems and payors interested in offering a continuance of care; and

• advising long term care providers on HIPAA privacy compliance.

Whether your organization is a long term care provider or your company supplies services and products to long term care providers, you deserve to be represented by experienced, committed lawyers who understand the industry.  The lawyers at Montgomery McCracken have the experience and commitment - just ask our clients.

For details on how the Long Term Care practice can deliver the knowledgeable guidance you need to achieve your goals, please contact Catherine H. Gillespie, Chair, at 215-772-7254, or email at cgillespie@mmwr.com.