Professional Experience
Mr. Belfort is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Healthcare Industry practice group. He has broad experience in the representation of healthcare organizations on regulatory and transactional matters. His clients include hospitals, community health centers, mental health providers, pharmacy chains, insurers, managed care plans, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, disease management companies, nursing homes and a variety of other businesses in the healthcare industry. He has also worked extensively with provider and health plan trade associations.
Mr. Belfort focuses a significant part of his practice on healthcare regulatory compliance, representing clients in government audits and investigations, structuring transactions to ensure compliance with state and federal healthcare laws and providing advice on fraud and abuse issues. Mr. Belfort has special expertise in providing advice to clients regarding compliance with HIPAA and other state and federal privacy laws. He also has broad experience on managed care issues, serving as counsel to both health plans and providers on managed care contracting and regulatory compliance matters.
Education
New York University School of Law, J.D. 1988.
Order of the Coif; Root-Tilden Scholar; American Jurisprudence Award in Torts; Benjamin F. Butler Award.
Oberlin College, B.A., Economics and Government, magna cum laude, 1981.
Phi Beta Kappa.
Memberships & Activities
Admitted to practice in New York.
Member, New York State Bar Association.
Member, American Health Lawyers Association.
Honors & Awards
Selected for “The Best Lawyers in America” in 2007 and 2008 in the specialty of Health Care Law.
Named as one of the Top-Ranked Attorneys, Chambers USA, 2008.
Publications
Co-Author, “A Stark Change: New Regulations Will Require Restructuring,” Health Law 360, September 18, 2008.
“Confusion Persists on EHR Subsidies,” Health Care IT News, December 2005.
“Patient Blogs,” Health Executive, December 2005.
Co-Author, "Through the Land of RHIOs," ADVANCE for Health Information Executives, March 2005.
"Anti-Kickback and Stark Law Issues Faced by Health Care Systems," New York State Bar Association Health Law Journal, Summer/Fall 2004.
"Play It Safe When Marketing Drug Cards," Modern Healthcare, April 5, 2004.
"Employers Say Confusion About HIPAA Compliance is Widespread," Andrews Employment Litigation Reporter, November 3, 2003.
"Applying Old Laws in New Times: Fraud and Abuse Risk Areas for Medicaid Managed Care Plans," New York State Bar Association Health Law Journal, Winter 2002.
"Reviewing HIPAA's Medical Privacy Rules," New York Law Journal, February 2001.
Co-author, "Coverage Gaps: Improving Retention Rates in New York’s Medicaid and Child Health Plus Programs," The New York Community Trust, December 2000.
"The Next Y2K: Getting Ready for HIPAA," Hospital and Health News, October 2000.
Co-author, Managed Medicare & Medicaid, "Organizing a Managed Care Plan: A Road Map for Hospitals," December 1998.
Speaking Engagements
Speaker, “Managing Patient Authorization in Regional Health Information Organizations,” Thirteenth National HIPAA Summit, September 2006.
Speaker, “Managed Care in New York State: Current Issues and Future Trends,” New York State Bar Association, September 2006.
Speaker, “Avoiding Anti-Kickback Liability Under the Part D Program,” Health Care Compliance Association Part D Compliance Conference, September 2006.
Speaker, “Designing Health Information Networks for Privacy and Public Trust,” The World Congress Leadership Summit on RHIOs, EMRs and Patient Portals, August 2006.
Speaker, "Criminal Liability Under HIPAA," Strafford Publications Nationwide Teleconference, November 2004.
Speaker, "Community-Wide Health Information Exchange: HIPAA Privacy and Security Issues," Ninth National HIPAA Summit, September 2004.
Speaker, "Health Information Exchange: HIPAA Privacy and Security Issues," Connecting Communities for Better Health Conference, June 2004.
Speaker, "HIPAA's Effect on New York Law," New York State Bar Association, December 2003.
Speaker, "Special HIPAA Compliance Challenges Facing MR/DD Providers," National Institution for People with Disabilities Conference, May 2003.
Speaker, "Hospital-Physician Joint Ventures," New York State Bar Association, March 2003.
Speaker, "Managing Behavioral Health Care: Special Needs, Special Issues," Empire State Reports Conference, 1999.
Speaker, "The Health Care Consumer Bill of Rights," New York City Club, 1998.
Speaker, "Trends in Managed Care Consumer Protection," Managed Health Care Liability Conference, 1997.
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