Bridgette advises clients in the health insurance industry, including managed care organizations, PBMs, and integrated delivery systems, ACOs, and providers on a variety of regulatory, fraud and abuse, and business planning matters. Her practice centers on compliance with federal health care program regulatory requirements, with a focus on reimbursement issues and value-based contracting.
Bridgette regularly counsels clients regarding risk-adjusted reimbursement programs and the practices that support them, including Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) and ACOs participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). Bridgette has experience conducting and defending investigations regarding fraud and abuse issues, including billing compliance related to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. She also works closely with discount medical plans (DMPOs) and other clients in the health care industry on matters relating to compliance with state regulations.
Bridgette is interested in value-based healthcare. She works closely with payors, providers, and ACOs, on a variety of innovative collaborations and has experience negotiating and papering these relationships.
With a background in health care operations, Bridgette is able to provide clients with practical insight that includes a focus on the business implications of health care regulatory and compliance, internal investigations, and fraud and abuse analyses of proposed new procedures. Bridgette applies her experience in health system administration and ethics in health care to her health law practice. Prior to practicing law, she worked as a health care ethicist at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Ethics in Health Care (NCEHC) and held other health system operations positions within VHA.
Most recently, Bridgette began hosting Health Law Diagnosed, Mintz’s health law podcast and she is a frequent author on Mintz’s Health Law Viewpoints.
Experience
- Counsels clients regarding Medicare Advantage risk adjustment compliance, including responses to OIG and CMS RADV audits.
- Assists with communication and advocacy with federal health care program regulators, including CMS and the HHS OIG.
- Drafts and negotiates complex services agreements between health plans and PBMs.
- Monitors changes and developments in state laws that impact the PBM industry and other related stakeholders.
- Conducts internal investigations into potential fraud and abuse matters and manage multiple key stakeholders.
- Develops and implements compliance reviews to recommend and identify compliance best practices.
- Assisted with the defense and settlement of a five-year False Claims Act investigation conducted by multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices and DOJ’s Civil Division on behalf of a national health care provider. We successfully convinced the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services not to pursue a Corporate Integrity Agreement.
- Represented a national health care provider in a False Claims Act investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The government ultimately declined to intervene, and the relator chose to voluntarily dismiss the case.
- Assisted with the defense of a diagnostics company in a national criminal and civil investigation involving multiple US Attorneys’ Offices and state Attorneys' General Offices. The investigation involved alleged kickback issues and billing violations.
viewpoints
Mintz IRA Update — Removal of AMP-Cap on Medicaid Rebates Causes Insulin Price Decrease
February 21, 2024 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller, Madison Castle, Abdie Santiago
Read about how the removal of the average manufacturer price (AMP) cap on Medicaid rebates prompted manufacturers to cut insulin prices to avoid significant payments to Medicaid.
Health Law Diagnosed — Mintz Health Law Team: Reflecting on What We Are Grateful For
February 5, 2024| Podcast|
Mintz Launches Podcast Series on Women Leaders in Health Care
December 8, 2023 | Blog
Mintz recently launched a new series of Health Law Diagnosed titled Women Leaders in Health Care. This new series highlights women leaders in the health care industry and includes discussions on key issues in the health care industry, women leaders’ reflections on their career, and the impact of mentorship. In our inaugural episode, Leah Pollema, Vice President and General Counsel at InhibRx, and Serene Katranji, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Counsel at Orchard Laboratories, join host Bridgette Keller to share personal stories about their experiences as both mentees and mentors, shedding light on the invaluable impact mentorship has had on their professional journeys.
Health Law Diagnosed – Women Leaders in Health Care: The Role and Importance of Mentorship
November 30, 2023 | Podcast | By Bridgette Keller
In the inaugural episode of our new series of Health Law Diagnosed titled Women Leaders in Health Care, host Bridgette Keller speaks with in-house attorneys Leah Pollema of InhibRx and Serene Katranji of Orchard Laboratories about the importance of mentorship.
Mintz IRA Update — Inaugural Edition
September 20, 2023 | Blog | By Theresa Carnegie, Tara E. Dwyer, Mitchell Clough, Xavier Hardy, Stephnie John, Bridgette Keller, Lauren Moldawer, Pat Ouellette, Hassan Shaikh
Mintz’s PBM & Pharmacy practice is proud to present the Mintz IRA Update, a regular publication that delves into the spectrum of developments under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) impacting the health care industry.
Health Law Diagnosed – CA Proposes Regs for Pre-Closing Review of Health Care Deals: What You Need to Know
August 21, 2023 | Podcast | By Lara Compton, Deborah Daccord, Bridgette Keller, Daria Niewenhous
Mintz Health Law attorneys discuss regulations recently proposed by California’s newly established Office of Health Care Affordability, which call for advance regulatory review of certain health care entity mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and other arrangements.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers are on the Federal Government’s Radar: Senate, House, and Agency Proposals Seek to Increase PBM Oversight - Part 2
June 15, 2023 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller, Sophia Temis
Bipartisan legislative activity related to pharmacy benefit manager oversight is at an all-time high in both the House and Senate. As we noted last week, several bills that address PBM activities are moving through the Senate and House committees with what appear to be high approval rates. There has also been an uptick in general investigations into PBM business practices. This post, which is the second of a two-part series, highlights recent House and federal agency activity targeting the PBM industry.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers are on the Federal Government’s Radar: Senate, House, and Agency Proposals Seek to Increase PBM Oversight – Part 1
June 6, 2023 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller, Sophia Temis
In conjunction with the surge in state legislative efforts to regulate the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry, Congress and federal agencies have ramped up PBM oversight efforts as part of the ongoing battle to lower prescription drug costs. Several bills that address PBM reporting requirements, including increased transparency as it relates to a PBM’s use of spread pricing and the retention of certain rebates and administrative fees, are moving through Senate and House committees. Further, last month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule to increase transparency related to spread pricing in Medicaid-managed care contracts with PBMs, and recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expanded its ongoing investigation into PBM practices to include information requests from two group purchasing organizations.
This blog post highlights recent Senate activity as well as a proposed bipartisan Senate and House bill that would impact PBM activity in the Medicaid-managed care space. This blog post is the first in a series of two posts detailing recent federal activities aimed at increasing oversight of the PBM industry.
Senate HELP Committee Eyes Drug Pricing and PBM Regulation Beyond Federal Programs
May 2, 2023 | Blog | By Bridgette Keller, Cody Keetch
On April 25, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy introduced a package of legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. The package includes four bills, each proposing changes that would address a different piece of the pharmaceutical supply chain. This post focuses on the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act (PBM Reform Act), which proposes to increase oversight of entities providing pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) services to group health plans and health insurance issuers (i.e., employer-based health insurance coverage).
Health Law Diagnosed – EnforceMintz – Part 2: DOJ Regulatory and Policy Update
April 25, 2023 | Podcast | By Bridgette Keller, Eoin Beirne, Karen Lovitch , Brian Dunphy
In this episode, Health Care Enforcement Defense specialists Eoin Beirne, Karen Lovitch, and Brian Dunphy discuss key regulatory and policy updates issued by the DOJ and their potential impact on False Claims Act cases, from self-disclosure to privacy regulations.
News & Press
Twenty-nine Mintz Attorneys Named to 2023 New York Metro Super Lawyers List
September 22, 2023
NEW YORK – Mintz is pleased to announce that 18 attorneys have been named New York Metro Super Lawyers and 11 attorneys have been named New York Metro Rising Stars by Super Lawyers for 2023.
Twenty-six Mintz Attorneys Recognized as 2022 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
September 29, 2022
17 Mintz attorneys have been named New York Metro Super Lawyers and nine Mintz attorneys have been named New York Metro Rising Stars by Super Lawyers for 2022.
Events & Speaking
Legal, Ethical, and Practical Issues for Vaccine Credentials and Verification for Workplaces
Lawline
Online Event
Recognition & Awards
Included on the New York Super Lawyers Rising Star: Health Care list (2020-2023)
ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Health Law
Involvement
- Member, American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA)
- Member, American Bar Association (ABA)
- Member, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE)