(WASHINGTON, June 23, 2010) — Thomas E. Hutchinson, a leading expert in the field of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP as a managing director in its Health Care practice, the law firm announced today. Hutchinson has spent more than 25 years in the public and private sectors implementing programs and policies directly affecting beneficiaries of those federal programs. He will reside in Sonnenschein’s Washington, D.C., office.
“Tom will be an invaluable addition to our team, particularly with regard to Medicare Advantage and Part D plan payment policies,” said Thomas K. Hyatt, national co-chair of Sonnenschein’s Health Care practice. “Our group is unmatched in identifying and analyzing emerging legal and regulatory issues and trends in health care, and Tom will further enhance our standing in this important area.”
Holley Thames Lutz, who also serves as national co-chair of Sonnenschein’s Health Care practice, added, “Tom immediately increases our ability to provide clients with a sophisticated understanding of the Medicare payment policy issues, particularly in the areas of bidding policy, risk adjustment and the payment changes mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Equally impressive is his grasp of the new Accountable Care Organization Program, insurance exchanges and other areas where payment issues will be complex.”
Hutchinson comes to Sonnenschein from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where he served as director of the Medicare Plan Payment Group. In that role, he was responsible for all aspects of the federal government’s annual Medicare payments to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, totaling approximately $160 billion. He oversaw the risk adjustment payment system and developed a program to validate and audit risk adjustment data submitted by the plans. Earlier at CMS, Hutchinson was group director of the Medicare Plan Policy Group that developed the final regulations to implement the Medicare Modernizations Act.
Prior to joining CMS in 2001, Hutchinson worked at the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) as a policy analyst in the Division of Integrated Delivery Systems developing its contract and payment policies for Medicare + Choice Organizations. As a special assistant to the center director before that, Hutchinson drafted briefing materials and position papers on a wide variety of Medicare operational and policy topics.
“Having spent the past 20 years in government service, I know I bring a unique perspective to Sonnenschein that will be extremely beneficial to the firm’s clients,” said Hutchinson. “I’m thankful that after working with such dedicated and accomplished individuals at CMS, I now have the opportunity to join an equally impressively strong group of health care lawyers and professionals, and I am very excited to be here.”
Hutchinson joins a health care practice at Sonnenschein that is widely recognized for its experience representing health care plans, providers, suppliers, manufacturers and other organizations. The group consists of lawyers and professionals who have spent years in private practice, as well as those who have served at high levels in government, including the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, CMS and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Hutchinson received a MPA degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.S. degree from Xavier University. Earlier in his career, he worked for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Oakland, Calif., in the Department of Aging.
With more than 700 lawyers and other professionals in 13 offices in the United States and Europe, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP (SNR) serves the legal and public interest needs of many of the world's best-known and most admired businesses, nonprofits and individuals.
On June 9, 2010, the partnerships of both SNR and UK-based Denton Wilde Sapte LLP (Denton) approved a combination to form SNR Denton, to become effective on September 30, 2010. The combination joins complementary practices with a disciplined focus on meeting evolving client needs in eight key sectors: Financial Institutions and Funds; Energy, Transport and Infrastructure; Insurance; Real Estate, Retail and Hotels; Technology, Media and Telecommunications; Health and Life Sciences; Manufacturing; and Government. With its focus on quality, the combination will include 1,400 lawyers and other professionals in 18 countries and 33 locations across four continents, including the US, UK, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the CIS, South-East Asia, and a network of exclusively associated firms in Africa.
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