2007 Winter Leadership Conference
Members of the Health Care Committee are urged to attend ABI’s Winter Leadership Conference at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Dec. 6-8, 2007. The location is beautiful and the conference will provide committee members with a superb opportunity to network with each other and to showcase their particular expertise. This year, the format of the committee’s meeting will depart from that of previous meetings. The meeting will consist of a roundtable discussion of health care issues on the cutting edge of reform, legislation, case law and business operations. The use of the roundtable approach should prove especially interesting and informative by providing a forum for practitioners to address the specific issues they face on a regular basis.
Bankruptcy Court Recognizes the Doctrine of Reverse Preemption
by: Gilbert L. Hamberg
Gilbert L. Hamberg, Esq.; Yardley, Pa.
In a just-published opinion, In re Medical Care Management Co., 361 B.R. 863 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 2003), the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (the court) has followed bankruptcy and other cases recognizing the seldom-invoked doctrine of reverse preemption. Medical interpreted the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. §1012(b), to mean that notwithstanding Congress’ enactment of the Bankruptcy Code and its bestowal of federal jurisdiction over the subject of bankruptcy, as to state laws regulating the business of insurance, bankruptcy courts are to defer their jurisdiction to state proceedings.
Overbedding, Hospital Closures and a Potential “Soft Landing” for Health Care Creditors: Recent Efforts in New Jersey
by: Warren J. Martin Jr.
Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C.; Morristown, N.J.
Hospital and nursing home insolvencies, closures and bankruptcies have long occurred independent of the “normal” economic cycle of business bankruptcies and insolvencies. There are several obvious reasons for this. These institutions depend on the state and federal government and the regulatory framework of Medicare and Medicaid for a large percentage of their revenues, and they are required to provide services to those who cannot afford to pay for them. However, one economic driver of the health care insolvency crisis that is a little less intractable is excess capacity, or overbedding.
Why So Many Excuses to Avoid the Appointment of a Patient Care Ombudsman?
by: Nancy A. Peterman
Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Chicago
Sherri Morissette
Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Chicago
Suzanne Koenig
SAK Management Services, LLC; Chicago
Congress enacted the health care provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) with the goal of providing patients with protections and a voice in health care bankruptcy cases. The creation of a patient care ombudsman, under §333 of the Bankruptcy Code, was one of the crucial provisions that provided patients with a voice and advocate in the bankruptcy case. Section 333(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code requires that “[i]f the debtor in a case under chapter 7, 9 or 11 is a health care business, the court shall order . . . the appointment of an ombudsman to monitor the quality of patient care and to represent the interests of the patients of a health care business unless the court finds that the appointment of such ombudsman is not necessary for the protection of patients under the specific facts of the case.” This article will provide an overview of various bankruptcy court decisions concerning the appointment of a patient care ombudsman under §333 and the various arguments raised to avoid the appointment of a patient care ombudsman.