Manatt Teams Up with Leading Health Policy Expert Ian Spatz, Who Will Serve as a Senior Advisor to the Firm's Growing Healthcare Practice
WASHINGTON, DC – February 17, 2009 – Ian Spatz, a leading Washington health policy expert, will serve as a Senior Advisor to Manatt Phelps & Phillips, LLP's and Manatt Health Solutions’ national healthcare practice and will advises clients on a wide range of health policy and public strategy issues. Spatz most recently served as vice president for global health policy at Merck & Co.
The announcement of Spatz's collaboration with Manatt in Washington, DC follows closely on the move to Manatt’s Washington office earlier this year by well-known healthcare litigator Robert Fabrikant, who came to the firm from Sidley Austin, LLP, and that of prominent healthcare transactional attorney Daniel B. Higgins, who joined the firm from Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, LLP in San Francisco, CA this month.
Through the collaboration, Spatz, who recently established a policy consulting firm, will provide highly-experienced insights into ongoing health reform efforts, help develop public and private strategies and guidance on a broad array of issues affecting health care providers and insurers, pharmaceutical companies, the consuming public and U.S. healthcare initiatives generally, as well as the development and implementation of communication and advocacy efforts at the federal and state levels. Among his areas of expertise are national health care policies and programs, pharmaceutical pricing including Medicare and Medicaid, intellectual property protection, and policies related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's regulation of the research, approval, manufacturing, and marketing of medicines.
William S. Bernstein, chair of Manatt's Healthcare Division, said, "We are lucky to be partnering with Ian during this time of intensified focus on making changes to the healthcare system in America. As the Administration and Congress turn their attention to healthcare reform, Ian's insights will be invaluable. He is both well known and well respected in Washington, as well as in the pharmaceutical, payor and provider industries, and is often looked to for the development of policy innovations to address some of the most pressing and intractable healthcare issues we face in this country. With health care policy and reform front and center in the national spotlight, Ian substantially complements our national strengths in developing creative solutions to issues, building multi-stakeholder coalitions, advocating for meaningful programs focused around providing access to high quality, affordable care, and helping our health care clients develop sound business and market strategies. We are thrilled to collaborate with him."
At Merck, one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and vaccine companies, Spatz directed U.S. public policy and related public affairs activities, representing the company before Congress, the Administration, Washington-based trade associations and the media, and interacting directly with a broad array of interest groups in the healthcare arena. He also directed grassroots and employee communications involving healthcare policy at Merck and its political action programs.
While at Merck, Spatz led the company's successful five-year campaign that helped to develop and gain enactment of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, providing millions of America's elderly and persons with disabilities with drug coverage for the first time. He promoted legislation to create the highly successful market exclusivity incentives for research on the pediatric uses of medicines and guided company efforts that resulted in successful resolution of international trade disputes on the licensing of medicines in the developing world.
Prior to joining Merck, Spatz served as legislative director for U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).
Spatz earned his J.D. at the New York University School of Law. He also earned a graduate degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a B.A. from Brandeis University.
About Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, provides legal and consulting services to a global client base from offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Sacramento, California; New York City and Albany, New York; and Washington, D.C. Manatt includes Manatt Health Solutions, a healthcare policy and strategic business advisory group, and ManattJones Global Strategies, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that develops and implements strategies to expand client businesses and facilitate their effective competition in global markets. For more information, visit www.manatt.com.
About Manatt Health Solutions
Manatt Health Solutions is a division of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, which provides legal and consulting services to a global client base from offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Sacramento, California; New York City and Albany, New York; and Washington, D.C. Manatt Health Solutions’ interdisciplinary team provides strategic and business advice, policy analysis, project implementation, and coalition building and advocacy services to clients in the areas of healthcare access and coverage, healthcare financing and reimbursement and health information technology. For more information, visit www.manatthealthsolutions.com.