Jennifer A. Hansen

Jennifer Hansen’s representation of health care providers focuses on three primary areas: medical staff, payor/provider disputes, and post-acute care facility defense. She has represented hospitals, medical staffs, and post-acute providers in wide range of litigation including state and federal court trials, Judicial Review Committee hearings, arbitrations, administrative hearings, and mediations throughout the State of California. Jennifer connects and communicates with regulators, licensing boards, payors, and others to facilitate constructive discussions and early, positive resolutions.  

Jennifer has over 15 years of experience representing medical staffs in sensitive high-profile cases involving medical staff membership and privileges. A significant portion of Jennifer’s practice involves advising medical staffs in credentialing and privileging matters, governance, by-laws, policies and procedures, rules and regulations, investigations, and reporting to the state professional licensing boards and the National Practitioner Data Bank. She has served as counsel in multiple peer review hearings and provides representation in writs and other litigation relating to medical staffs.

Her extensive knowledge of the health care payment and reimbursement landscape makes her particularly effective in representing hospitals and hospital systems, post-acute care providers, physicians, and other ancillary providers in managed care contract and non-contract payor/provider disputes with health care payors. She has collected millions of dollars in unpaid and underpaid patient claims for her provider clients, including obtaining awards of interest. Health care providers also count on Jennifer for advice and assistance with managed care contracts and out-of-network disputes or issues arising under the Knox-Keene Act, California Insurance Code, and ERISA. Jennifer has handled dozens of cases against almost every major payor, including but not limited to Blue Cross, Blue Shield, United, Aetna, and Cigna.

Jennifer has successfully served as lead counsel on investigations for prominent post-acute care facilities, adult residential facilities, hospitals and pharmacies, including alleged immediate jeopardy deficiencies. She has represented clients in challenges to federal deficiencies issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and state citations issued by the Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services. Jennifer handles administrative hearings before the Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board and Office of Administrative Hearings and Appeals. 

Jennifer served on the firm’s Board of Directors from 2019-2022.

Representative Matters

• In 2024, prevailed in hearing for ACGME residency program upholding a termination and non-renewal of resident contract.
• In 2023, prevailed in joint hearing for academic medical center medical staffs upholding denials of medical staff application of a physician.
• In 2023, prevailed in defending public hospital board in Superior Court writ proceeding following 2022 defense in public censure reconsideration proceeding.
• In 2023, represented medical group in peer review hearing relating to a termination of employment for medical disciplinary cause or reason.
• In 2021, 2023, and 2024, represented multiple clients in pro bono adoption proceedings.
• In 2022, assisted two post-acute care facilities with dismissals of immediate jeopardy deficiencies.
• In 2021, represented medical staff in year-long peer review proceeding involving alleged sexual misconduct relating to summary suspension of physician.
• In 2020, represented health system client in contentious peer review proceeding resulting in the upholding of the denial of re-appointment of advanced practice professional.
• In 2019, defended County hospital in health care provider contract dispute.
• Successfully represented hospital on appeal where trial court properly refused to certify class of self-pay patients contesting hospital’s use of Chargemaster rates in Kendall v. Scripps Health, 16 Cal.App.5th 553 (2017) and obtained defense verdict at trial.
• Successfully represented hospital on appeal where trial court properly refused to certify class of self-pay patients contesting hospital’s use of Chargemaster rates in Hefczyc v. Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, 17 Cal.App.5th 518 (2017).
• Won arbitration proceeding for hospital system confirmed by the Ninth Circuit in Scripps v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, (5/30/14) (Case No. 12-56493).