Hope is a Member of the firm's Health Law Section, chair of the Health Care Enforcement Defense Group and serves on the Policy Committee and Pro Bono Committee. She represents health care providers, product manufacturers, payors, and investors.
Hope specializes in statutory and regulatory issues affecting the provision of health care services; her practice includes counseling, structuring and litigating fraud and abuse issues as well as reimbursement matters.
Hope defends and resolves large, multi-faceted federal and state investigations arising under criminal and civil statutes barring, among other things, the submission of false claims and the provision of remuneration to induce referrals. In connection with such cases, Hope negotiates and structures:
· Global settlements with the United States Department of Justice and its United States Attorney's Offices and state Attorneys General Offices; and
· Corporate integrity agreements with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General
Many of the cases that she has handled have arisen as a result of qui tam cases filed by whistleblowers, under federal and state False Claims Acts. Hope also develops and implements compliance programs and advises clients in connection with voluntary disclosures to the government. Hope defends administrative actions initiated by federal and state agencies, including recoupment actions and proceedings involving licensure and certification. She has a comprehensive understanding of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and their rules governing reimbursement. In her work before the U.S. Congress on behalf of clients, Hope has supported enactment of statutes including the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments and the Stark self-referral bans.
Hope frequently speaks on topics of interest to health care providers, payors and product manufacturers. In March 2012, she spoke at the12th National Forum on Fraud and Abuse in the Sale and Marketing of Drugs with regard to the broadened use of FCA enforcement and its implications on the pharmaceutical industry. In June 2011, Hope spoke at the Bio/Pharmaceutical Legal Congress on building an action plan to avert the potential of whistleblower claims. In June 2010, she moderated a panel on "Trends in Enforcement - Fraud Issues in the Clinical Study and Marketing of Medical Devices" at the 6th Annual Medical Device and Diagnostic Compliance Congress. In April 2010, Hope presented "False Claims Act Developments and Management of Risk" at the Health Care Compliance Association's 14th Annual Compliance Institute.
Hope has written extensively on issues confronting health care providers. She authored books titled Compliance Guidance for Health Care Providers: How to Get It Right! (Washington G-2 Reports 2001) and Medicare Compliance Guide for Clinical Labs: Billing and Marketing Safeguards for Your Business, (Washington G-2 Reports 1997). On the subject of health care fraud, she co-authored "Health Care Law False Claims Act Poses New Threats" which appeared in the June 2001 National Law Journal and she authored "Defending a Nationally Orchestrated, Multi-Provider Federal Health Task Force Investigation" (American Bar Association 1997). On cutting-edge issues in federal health care debarment, Hope wrote "Avoiding OIG-Imposed Exclusion," a chapter in Health Care Exclusions: A Comprehensive Guide (American Bar Association 1997). Hope is co-author of the four-volume Laboratory Regulation Manual (Aspen 1977) and co-author of the "IVD Fraud and Abuse Issues" chapter of In Vitro Diagnostics: The Complete Regulatory Guide (The Food and Drug Law Institute 2010). She has also written articles for a variety of health periodicals.
Hope has the honor of an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell. In 2012, Hope was named one of the Top Women Lawyers In The Northeast by Arrive magazine. She was also named a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer in 2012. In 2008 and 2010, she was named an Outstanding Healthcare Fraud and Compliance Lawyer by Nightingale's Healthcare News. Hope also was named in the most recent edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leader in her field, and was selected by her peers in 2011 and 2012 to be included in The Best Lawyers in America.
Hope is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association (ABA). She is a member of the ABA's White Collar Crime, Health Care, and Antitrust Committees as well as of the Subcommittee on Health Care Fraud and Abuse. Hope received her B.A. from Wellesley College (1970), and her J.D., with honors, from the George Washington University National Law Center (1973).
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Health Care
Health Care Reform