Eric A. Klein

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Los Angeles

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In a crisis, some find opportunity, said Klein, the team leader of Sheppard Mullin's 165-attorney national health care practice. So as the coronavirus pandemic rages, "We've been swamped with new telemedicine ventures," as clients plan how to connect doctors with patients remotely for safety and efficiency reasons.

Klein is accustomed to working on multi-billion-dollar transactions for health care company clients; he and his team have led more than 70 non-profit and for-profit hospital merger and acquisition deals. Klein has been the lead on more than 60 health plan purchase or sale projects as he oversaw the growth of his firm's health care group during the past dozen years.

The business plan he devised in 2008 for the firm's growth in this area foresaw that technology would transform the industry, though telemedicine appeared then to be a stretch because government regulators took a dim view of the practice. Now, amid crisis, things are different.

"We're seeing the industry responding very rapidly and working well in partnership with regulators," Klein said. Among the rapid-fire changes: on March 17 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services broadened access to telehealth services.

"I'm working on a telemedicine project now -- some states have no requirements on reimbursement within the private healthcare system. So do we pay the same as with in-person visits? And we're seeing a lot of need for financing. A lot of folks are really tight on finance right now."

Other clients have questions -- lots of questions.

"There are issues of ethics and accountability and concerns over who gets treatment and who does not when resources are limited," he said. "There are issues over changes in H&R and employment law and changes in reimbursement policies."

In February, Klein guided private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in a $600 million joint venture with health insurance giant Humana Inc. to develop primary care centers to treat seniors insured by Medicare Advantage plans.

"There's a trillion dollars of private equity sitting around to be invested in this sector," Klein said. "This is the beginning of a trend in which partnerships are shifting toward new modes of business."

In January, Klein helped global health insurance and services provider Cigna Corp. forge a partnership with tech-driven health insurer Oscar Insurance Corp. to provide commercial health insurance to small businesses. The deal came before the pandemic arrived, but seemed to fit emerging needs.

"It was a welcome coincidence that we got the partnership going then," Klein said. "Regardless of the virus, people need health care. With Oscar's technology, we can shift things for patients very quickly."

-- John Roemer