Robert Belfort is a partner in the healthcare practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and has over 20 years of experience representing healthcare organizations on regulatory compliance and transactional matters. Mr. Belfort has extensive experience advising a wide variety of healthcare clients, including hospitals, medical groups, health insurers, managed care organizations, accountable care organizations, mental health providers, pharmacy chains, information technology vendors and healthcare industry trade associations.

Mr. Belfort’s practice focuses on the following areas:

Managed Care and Accountable Care. He counsels health insurers and other managed care organizations on compliance with Affordable Care Act standards, Medicaid managed care requirements, Medicare Part C and Part D rules, HIPAA portability and nondiscrimination mandates, and state insurance licensing and market conduct laws. He also advises both insurers and providers on establishing accountable care organizations and other value-based contracting arrangements. He drafts and negotiates the full range of managed care and accountable care contracts, including provider participation agreements as well as specialty carve-out and PBM arrangements.

HIPAA/Privacy. He assists clients in managing health information within the parameters established by HIPAA and state confidentiality laws. He conducts internal gap analyses, drafts privacy policies and advises on the development of other privacy safeguards and also helps clients respond to complaints and privacy breaches. He also works with regional health information organizations and other multistakeholder entities to develop patient consent and other data-sharing policies and practices.

Fraud and Abuse. He advises clients on structuring transactions and conducting day-to-day business operations to ensure compliance with the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark law, Medicare and Medicaid participation and billing requirements, professional licensing rules, and corporate practice of medicine and fee-splitting restrictions. He also performs risk assessments, develops compliance programs, conducts internal investigations and represents clients in government investigations and audits.