Photo of Leonard Lipsky

Leonard Lipsky

Subscribe to Leonard Lipsky's Posts

Leonard Lipsky is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the Healthcare Team in the firm's New York office.

Contact:Read more about Leonard Lipsky

Overview of SB 951

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek on Monday, June 9, 2025, signed a first-of-its-kind law that significantly reshapes the state’s regulatory landscape for non-physician investment in medical practices. Senate Bill 951 (“SB 951” or the “Law”) imposes broad restrictions on how non-professional parties, such as private equity firms and other non-physician investors, participate in the ownership, management, and operation of medical practices in Oregon. The Law strengthens and expands Oregon’s existing corporate practice of medicine (“CPOM”) prohibition, directly impacting the way investors, management services organizations (“MSOs”), and professional medical entities structure their relationships. The Law has garnered national attention for its aggressive stance on limiting corporate involvement in healthcare and signals an evolving trend in the state regulation of private equity (and other investor) backed medical practices.Continue Reading Oregon Targets Corporate Practice of Medicine with Enacted Bill: What SB 951 Means for MSOs, PE-Backed Physician Groups, and Physicians

Leonard Lipsky and Carly Eisenberg Hoinacki from Sheppard Mullin’s Healthcare Team recently sat down with Nick Francia[i] and Sarah Bothner[ii] of The Capital ESOP Group at UBS Financial Services Inc.[iii], to explore the ins and outs of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transactions as a potential exit strategy for physician practices. Below is the Q&A from their conversation.Continue Reading Selling Your Physician Practice? Don’t Miss Out on ESOPs as an Alternative Exit Strategy

On Thursday, May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a budget reconciliation bill introduced by House Republicans, by a 215-214 vote. The bill extends key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, currently set to expire at the end of 2025, and allocates additional funding for defense and other federal priorities. It also includes reductions in government spending and revised eligibility requirements for several federal aid programs.Continue Reading House-Passed Budget Bill – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – Includes Major Changes to Medicaid

On August 1, 2023, the New York State’s Department of Health (the “DOH”) began implementation of Public Health Law Article 45-A, the State’s new statutory requirement for advance notice and public disclosure of certain material healthcare transactions (the “Material Transactions law”). Now, in response to questions from the healthcare community regarding the reporting requirements and statutory interpretation, the DOH has released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to clarify the scope and application of the Material Transactions law.Continue Reading New York State Releases Much Anticipated Guidance on Reporting Requirements for Material Healthcare Transactions as Budget Negotiations Near Conclusion, Potentially Expanding Law to Include Pre-Closing Review

Sheppard Mullin partners, Cyrus Abbassi and Leonard Lipsky, served as panelists at the annual Orthopedics Today Conference in Kauai, Hawaii, held in January 2025. During a spirited discussion with various stakeholders in the orthopedics industry, they noted the following key takeaways:Continue Reading Four Takeaways from the Orthopedics Today Conference 2025

On January 8, 2025, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed House Bill 5159 (“H.5159”) into law, marking a notable expansion of the regulation of private equity investments within the Massachusetts healthcare sector. The legislation, set to take effect on April 8, 2025, introduces new measures to enhance transparency and accountability in healthcare transactions, focusing specifically on private equity firms, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), and management services organizations (“MSOs”). This development also reflects a broader trend across the nation of increasing scrutiny of healthcare transactions and investments by private equity firms and other investors, as highlighted in our previous blog series on California’s Assembly Bill 3129.[i]Continue Reading Massachusetts Expands Oversight of Private Equity Investment in Healthcare: Key Takeaways from House Bill 5159 Signed into Law by Governor Healey

CMS recently published the First Annual Evaluation Report (the “Report”) highlighting its most significant observations in the first year following implementation of the Kidney Care Choices Model (the “KCC Model”). By way of background, the KCC Model is a payment model which creates certain incentives for providers that are intended to improve care management for Medicare patients with chronic kidney disease (“CKD”) (Stage 4 or 5) or end-stage renal disease (“ESRD”). The KCC Model is intended to, among other things, delay the dialysis progression and increase use of home dialysis, while also aiming to reduce the cost of care and improve quality of outcomes.Continue Reading CMS Releases First Annual Evaluation Report for Kidney Care Choices Model

On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Becerra[1] for the October 2024 – 2025 term to review a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling potentially affecting up to $4 billion in federal funding for hospitals.[2] The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) properly reimbursed hospitals for providing care to patients receiving financial aid from the Supplemental Security Income Program (the “SSI Program”).[3] Hospitals benefiting from Medicare reimbursement adjustments for treating low-income patients should closely monitor this case, as a favorable ruling for the plaintiffs may impact how hospitals are reimbursed for similar claims in the future.Continue Reading SCOTUS to Review Case Impacting Medicare Reimbursement for Hospitals Treating Low-Income Patients

Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) in 2021 with the aim of enhancing transparency in entity structures and ownership as well as combating terrorism, money laundering, and other forms of corporate misconduct. This sweeping new rule is designed to cast a wide net over entities that, except in the case of taxes, do not regularly report to federal agencies (i.e., non-publicly traded entities), regardless of the degree to which they are already regulated at the state level. This post specifically speaks to medical groups and management services organizations (“MSOs”) that now need to navigate the new CTA requirements and account for their complex contractual relationships (e.g., management services agreements, equity restriction or succession agreements). For additional information on a particular topic, links to helpful resources have been provided in the footnotes.Continue Reading The Corporate Transparency Act: A Reporting Guide for Medical Groups and MSOs

On November 24, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule to modify certain Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) standards that apply to issuers and Marketplaces, as well as requirements for agents, brokers, web-brokers, direct enrollment entities, and assisters that help Marketplace consumers (the “Proposed Rule”).[1] These modifications are intended to further the Biden Administration’s goals of advancing health equity by addressing disparities in access to quality care while minimizing administrative burdens and ensuring program integrity.Continue Reading CMS Promotes Health Equity through Marketplace Standards and More in New Proposed Rule

The growth of private equity and other financial sponsor investments in the health care industry has led many states across the country to adopt expansive oversight authority over health care transactions. With the enactment of New York State’s budget for the State Fiscal Year 2023-2024, signed into law on May 3, 2023, the movement for more oversight in New York is coming this summer.Continue Reading New Notice and Public Disclosure Requirements for Material Health Care Transactions in New York