Massachusetts Healthcare Attorneys

Administering and operating a healthcare facility in Massachusetts involves numerous concerns, not only when it comes to providing care to your patients but also in protecting your facility’s interests. Compliance, debt collection, and legal matters require focused attention and guidance from experienced professionals committed to finding cost-effective solutions on your behalf.

At Cohen Cleary, P.C., we work closely with you to assess your needs and build an approach that prioritizes your facility’s goals. We also advise you on staying ahead of compliance issues and stand with you during litigation. Our Massachusetts healthcare attorneys believe in cultivating relationships with our clients and serving them with integrity, honesty, and excellence.

What Type of Healthcare Facilities Do We Serve?

Our primary focus includes facilities that house patients for extended periods of time, such as:

• Skilled nursing homes
• Rehabilitation centers
• Assisted living homes
• Acute, sub-acute, and long-term acute care facilities

We also work with medical equipment providers who need to maintain regulatory compliance and manage collections for unpaid contracts.

What Our Massachusetts Healthcare Attorneys Can Help With

We pride ourselves on being a full-service firm that addresses every concern for healthcare facilities. Here are some of the primary fields of interest for our client base:

Debt Collection 

As an administrator for a healthcare facility, you depend on consistent revenue to pay staff, purchase assets, and keep the lights on. When accounts go into arrears, you must act swiftly to recover funds owed to you. Our debt collection team represents clients like you to litigate against those who neglect to meet their financial obligations.

We can assist with legal matters surrounding collecting commercial debts, unpaid loans, and debts for sold goods. Our firm can also serve as your debt collection service for patients and others with outstanding accounts at your healthcare facility. Our team ensures swift compliance with laws such as the statute of limitations for claims against patient estates.

Guardianship 

Many patients and residents become incapacitated as a result of disease progression or accidents, and appointing a guardian becomes an immediate concern. Our healthcare lawyers can assist your facility in completing the forms to appoint a guardian, as well as individual requests for DNR, DNI, DNH, and other authorizations. Family members may be unsure of how to proceed, and our experienced professionals put their knowledge to use, speeding the matter along for everyone’s benefit.

We can also assist if the appointed guardian is slow to respond or passes away. Our lawyers can manage the documentation and application so your caregivers can serve the patient or resident and their immediate needs. If the person regains their capacity to manage their own healthcare, we can assist with terminating the guardianship.

Conservatorship 

Similarly to guardianship, when a patient loses their mental capacity to make financial decisions, they require a conservator. We can guide your facility and the resident’s family through the process of petitioning the court for a Power of Attorney. In situations where the patient has assets that could pay their fees, we can identify an appropriate family member or social worker to stand as the conservator.

We also assist managed care facilities facing objections from resident family members as they try to complete the conservatorship process. Our extensive background in managing paperwork, medical documentation, and the protocols required for conservatorship proceedings enables us to tailor the petition to each resident’s individual needs. This protects your facility from accusations of overreach while maintaining your ability to recover payment. 

Estate Litigation 

When a resident passes away, Massachusetts law allows creditors to present claims against the estate during the probate process. While some costs, such as state taxes and funeral expenses, are paid first, it is vital to submit payment claims for your facility immediately. If the estate attempts to bar your claim or seeks insolvency from the probate court, you must take additional legal action.

We can assemble documentation and materials showing how your facility’s charges directly relate to the decedent’s final illness, which takes priority over unsecured loans and other debts. 

Regulatory Compliance 

Our health law practice can assist you with reviewing and complying with the substantial amount of state and federal regulations surrounding your industry. We stay current on the impact of legislation, such as the “Act Promoting a Resilient Health Care System that Puts Patients First,” which aims to minimize unexpected costs for patients from healthcare facilities. We can also determine any impact on your facility from Massachusetts’ House Bill 5159 (2024), which increases oversight for facility sales and transactions involving private equity firms. 

Our healthcare attorneys advise you on necessary changes to your operations that these laws may trigger and can assist with training your staff and healthcare providers to ensure compliance. We also assist with maintaining healthcare facility licensure under state mandates and assist with medical licenses in line with the Board of Regulation in Medicine (BORIM) regulations. 

Medicaid Applications, Appeals, and Hardship Waiver Requests

Residents who need to take advantage of government assistance programs for their healthcare costs must deal with complicated forms and approval hearings. As a healthcare facility, your primary interest is ensuring that their approval goes through so you can bill for your services. We work with your facility to streamline this process and secure benefits on behalf of your patients. 

In the event of denial, we can assist your staff in managing the hearings and securing an appeal. As a provider, requesting a fair hearing appeal is highly time-sensitive, and our team will support rapid response and represent you throughout the process. Our team can manage all your needs related to federal and state assistance programs.

If a resident passes away who was a medicaid beneficiary, the Massachusetts Estate Recovery Program (MERP) seeks payment from the decedent’s estate when they used Medicaid to cover their care. Recovering compensation this way can be challenging, especially if the heirs file a hardship waiver request to avoid Medicaid reimbursement.

Work With Our Trusted Massachusetts Healthcare Attorneys

Managing the day-to-day operations of your facility requires focus and experience, and we realize you expect the same from other professionals. When you call on our Massachusetts healthcare attorneys, you can trust that we are as committed to success as you are. We offer honesty, knowledge, and integrity to every client, drawing on every available resource to craft our approach.

At Cohen Cleary, P.C., we offer a range of payment plans for our services so you get the legal support you need without adding to your stress. We can also provide assistance to Spanish and Portuguese language speakers. Learn more when you contact us today and request your free evaluation.