Robert C. Leventhal

Robert is a partner and litigation attorney in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He has substantial experience with complex healthcare litigation, insurance coverage disputes, reinsurance disputes and complex business litigation. Typical matters handled include:

• Lead plaintiff attorney in a California state court class action representing a class of hospitals challenging Medi-Cal hospital outpatient rates. This case, along with a federal case, resulted in a $350 million payment to California hospitals and a 40% prospective rate increase.
• Lead plaintiff attorney in federal lawsuit brought by FQHCs challenging CMS’s underground regulation precluding hospitals from including the costs incurred by their hospital based FQHCs in the DSH calculations.  Alameda Health v. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, 287 F. Supp. 3D 896 (N.D.Cal. 2017)
• Lead plaintiff attorney in a lawsuit challenging Medi-Cal rates paid to home health care providers. California Association for Health Services at Home v. Department of Health Services, 148 Cal.App.4th 696 (2007) 
• Lead plaintiff attorney in a lawsuit challenging Medi-Cal hospital rates. Hoag Memorial Hospital v. Tom Price, 866 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 2017)
• Lead plaintiff lawyer in a lawsuit against a hospital system’s broker for placing insurance with an insurance company that was on the brink of insolvency.
• Represented providers in a variety of regulatory matters, including matters before the California Medical Board, the Department of Managed Health Care, and other regulatory agencies.
• Handled rate litigation against health plan for inadequate out-of-network emergency services reimbursement.
• Handled lawsuits against provider billing companies for negligence in billing the providers’ claims.
• Represented the California Hospital Association in major litigation, including the successful defense of an antitrust class action and in lawsuits relating to the implementation of nurse staffing regulations.
• Handled disputes between managed care plans and health care providers in arbitrations and lawsuits.
• Compliance counseling regarding Medicare Advantage programs and other regulatory issues.
• Represented California managed care plan in Medi-Cal managed care rate appeals challenging the adequacy of managed care capitation rates set by the California Department of Health Care Services.
• Assisted health plans respond to regulatory investigations.
• Represented health plan in disputes between managed care plan and contracted managing general agent.
• Represented health plans in disputes between managed care plan and plan members.
• Successfully defended Western Dental in a lawsuit brought by the California Department of Corporations seeking to put Western Dental into receivership because of alleged quality of care issues.

 Insurance Company/Reinsurance Company Cases

• First chair in arbitrations of reinsurance disputes involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Coverage disputes between insurance companies and insureds representing both insurance companies and insureds.
• Designed and supervised reinsurance audits of large books of workers compensation and construction defect business.
• Worked closely with actuaries in evaluating IBNR on books of insurance and reinsurance business.
• Reinsurance commutation negotiation and analysis.
• Represented insureds and reinsurers in connection with insurance/reinsurance/group self-insurance insolvencies.