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Christine Burke Worthen

Christine Burke Worthen

Partner

One Financial Center
Suite 3500
Boston, MA 02111
100 S.E. 3rd Avenue
Suite 2700
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33394
christine.worthen@nelsonmullins.com

Christine provides legal and strategic advice to hospitals, health systems, physician practices and behavioral health providers, as well as post-acute care and other ancillary providers. She has broad experience working on matters pertaining to Medicare reimbursement, participation in CMS Innovation Center payment models, managed care contract negotiations, and value-based payment arrangements with insurance companies, self-insured...

Christine provides legal and strategic advice to hospitals, health systems, physician practices and behavioral health providers, as well as post-acute care and other ancillary providers. She has broad experience working on matters pertaining to Medicare reimbursement, participation in CMS Innovation Center payment models, managed care contract negotiations, and value-based payment arrangements with insurance companies, self-insured employers, and Medicare Advantage plans. She also provides counsel on the regulatory, operational, and financial considerations necessary to navigate the evolving payment landscape, to secure sustainable fee for service agreements and to navigate the various components of risk, ranging from pay for quality, to shared risk, and ultimately to full risk.

Christine also addresses privacy and security issues under HIPAA and the Part 2 regulations that may arise when integrating, using, and sharing claims and clinical data. She advises on other areas of concern for providers such as payer policies and price transparency as well as the reimbursement, licensing, and other regulatory issues involved in deploying telehealth as a strategy for population health arrangements. She also represents providers in payment disputes under their commercial contracts.

In addition to her healthcare practice, Christine has more than 20 years of experience providing ERISA counsel to employers for their defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and their self-insured and fully insured welfare benefits plans. She has represented clients in government audits by the IRS and the Department of Labor, and assisted clients with other regulatory aspects of self-insured health plans, such as HIPAA, COBRA, Mental Health Parity, the No Surprises Act, and the Affordable Care Act. She also offers guidance on the federal tax issues facing tax-exempt hospitals.

Christine Burke Worthen

employers, and Medicare Advantage plans. She also provides counsel on the regulatory, operational, and financial considerations necessary to navigate the evolving payment landscape, to secure sustainable fee for service agreements and to navigate the various components of risk, ranging from pay for quality, to shared risk, and ultimately to full risk.

Christine also addresses privacy and security issues under HIPAA and the Part 2 regulations that may arise when integrating, using, and sharing claims and clinical data. She advises on other areas of concern for providers such as payer policies and price transparency as well as the reimbursement, licensing, and other regulatory issues involved in deploying telehealth as a strategy for population health arrangements. She also represents providers in payment disputes under their commercial contracts.

In addition to her healthcare practice, Christine has more than 20 years of experience providing ERISA counsel to employers for their defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and their self-insured and fully insured welfare benefits plans. She has represented clients in government audits by the IRS and the Department of Labor, and assisted clients with other regulatory aspects of self-insured health plans, such as HIPAA, COBRA, Mental Health Parity, the No Surprises Act, and the Affordable Care Act. She also offers guidance on the federal tax issues facing tax-exempt hospitals.

Christine provides legal and strategic advice to hospitals, health systems, physician practices and behavioral health providers, as well as post-acute care and other ancillary providers. She has broad experience working on matters pertaining to Medicare reimbursement, participation in CMS Innovation Center payment models, managed care contract negotiations, and value-based payment arrangements with insurance companies, self-insured... employers, and Medicare Advantage plans. She also provides counsel on the regulatory, operational, and financial considerations necessary to navigate the evolving payment landscape, to secure sustainable fee for service agreements and to navigate the various components of risk, ranging from pay for quality, to shared risk, and ultimately to full risk.

Christine also addresses privacy and security issues under HIPAA and the Part 2 regulations that may arise when integrating, using, and sharing claims and clinical data. She advises on other areas of concern for providers such as payer policies and price transparency as well as the reimbursement, licensing, and other regulatory issues involved in deploying telehealth as a strategy for population health arrangements. She also represents providers in payment disputes under their commercial contracts.

In addition to her healthcare practice, Christine has more than 20 years of experience providing ERISA counsel to employers for their defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, and their self-insured and fully insured welfare benefits plans. She has represented clients in government audits by the IRS and the Department of Labor, and assisted clients with other regulatory aspects of self-insured health plans, such as HIPAA, COBRA, Mental Health Parity, the No Surprises Act, and the Affordable Care Act. She also offers guidance on the federal tax issues facing tax-exempt hospitals.

Experience

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

Previous Professional Experience

  • Vice President and Senior Counsel, Northern Light Health
  • Partner and Chair of Healthcare Services Practice Group, Portland, ME/Boston, MA offices of a full-service law firm
  • Of Counsel, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP
  • Shareholder, Chair of Tax and Employee Benefits/Executive Compensation Practice Groups, Bangor, ME office of a full-service law firm
  • Associate, Providence, RI office of a full-service firm
  • State and Local Tax Manager, Grant Thornton LLP, Boston, MA and Fort Lauderdale, FL

Education

  • New England Law - Boston, JD
  • Boston University School of Law, LLM, Taxation
  • Boston University, BA, English Honors and French Language and Literature, cum laude

Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • Florida
  • Rhode Island
  • Maine

Practice Areas

Industries

  • Special Topics Vice Chair, Regulation, Accreditation and Payment Practice Group, American Health Law Association (July, 2022 – Present)

  • Chair, Delivery and Payment Reform Affinity Group, American Health Law Association (2020 –July, 2022)
  • Vice Chair of Publications, ACO Tax Force, American Health Law Association (2016–2019)
  •  Vice Chair of ABA Health Law Section on Employee Benefits (2017)
  • Vice Chair of ABA Health Law Section on Tax and Accounting (2013–2017)
  • Board Member, Portland Recovery Community Center (2020-present)