Ari J. Markenson

Partner
Ari Markenson

Ari Markenson practices at the intersection of healthcare, law, and business. Ari advises healthcare industry clients, including investors, lenders, providers, and suppliers, on a broad range of regulatory and corporate matters, and has significant experience in complex healthcare industry acquisitions and financial transactions. He regularly represents private equity firms and lenders in such transactions and evaluates and advises on compliance and regulatory issues with regard to sellers and potential borrowers from banks and financing sources. He also advises various healthcare entities on regulatory matters, including conditions for participation; fraud and abuse; and survey, certification, licensure, and enforcement issues.

Ari advises clients on Medicare and Medicaid conditions for participation, obtaining certificate of need approval, and state licensure. He has significant experience representing numerous providers in response to and appeals of audits and investigations by regulatory enforcement authorities regarding compliance with reimbursement rules and regulations under government healthcare programs.

Ari frequently writes for industry publications and speaks at industry and professional events. He also teaches healthcare law, public health law, healthcare lawyering skills, and other healthcare management and policy topics at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Pace University College of Health Professions Department of Health Science, and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

Experience

Representative Matters

  • Representing an investor group in the potential multi-million-dollar acquisition of an autism services business
  • Representing a large regional dental implant management company in its acquisitions of professional practices, structuring of business operations, and day-to-day health regulatory matters
  • Counseling a large national alternative lending provider on healthcare legal and regulatory issues in the senior housing industry
  • Representing a large regional behavioral health management company in acquisitions of professional practices, structuring of business operations, and day-to-day health regulatory matters
  • Representing a large multinational supplier of hearing aids in internal investigation and health regulatory matters
  • Representing founders of a medspa in the investment and start-up of a regional medspa business
  • Representing a Catholic order in its move from its existing convent into new leased premises that provide for social and healthcare services
  • Representing a private equity fund in regulatory compliance matters and assessment of compliance efforts at its portfolio companies
  • Represented a healthcare consulting firm in its multi-million-dollar sale to a middle-market healthcare-focused private equity fund. The transaction involved cash, rollover equity, and contingent consideration for the seller
  • Acted as special health regulatory counsel to the initial purchasers of approximately $1 billion in notes issued by a publicly traded healthcare company
  • Provided health regulatory counsel to Nelstone Ventures in its $3.4 million investment in Allermi, a direct-to-consumer telehealth service providing a customized multi-ingredient nasal spray for allergy relief
  • Represented a large ophthalmic surgery practice in its multi-million-dollar acquisition by a private-equity-backed ophthalmology business
  • Represented a large dermatology practice in its multi-million-dollar sale to a private-equity-backed dermatology platform
  • Represented a private equity investor in the multi-million-dollar buy-out of a large regional bariatric services provider
  • Represented an orthopeadic physician practice in its buyout of a joint venture partner in an ambulatory surgery center
  • Provided strategic advice to a client in the allergy and immunology space regarding contractor relationships with professionals
  • Provided health regulatory counsel in the multi-million-dollar sale of a large concierge medicine practice to a private-equity-backed company
  • Represented a veteran-affiliated continuing care retirement community in a potential strategic alliance or sale to a system of nonprofit senior services communities
  • Represented the sellers of a local community hospice in post-closing operational and regulatory disputes with the buyer
  • Represented a durable medical equipment supplier in a self-disclosure to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG)
  • Provided health regulatory counsel to a large regional provider of applied behavioral analysis and other autism services
  • Counseled a provider of substance use disorder services on obtaining licensure in New York and entering the New York market
  • Provided advice to a national real estate lending provider on HIPAA and privacy compliance related to its relationship with skilled nursing facility borrowers and operators
  • Provided health regulatory analysis on self-referral and related issues to a dialysis services provider regarding the structure of investment by physicians in dialysis outpatient centers
  • Provided health regulatory advice to a metabolic testing clinical laboratory related to employing and contracting with healthcare professionals
  • Provided counsel to a multi-site primary care provider relating to an audit and recoupment from Medicaid
  • Provided health regulatory counsel to a dietary supplement distributor on financial relationships and joint venture arrangements with healthcare professionals
  • Provided health regulatory counsel in the closure of an assisted living facility in connection with the sale of its underlying real estate
  • Represented the physician owner of an ambulatory surgery center in a dispute with the center’s operator
  • Assisted a healthcare provider with a request to the HHS-OIG for an advisory opinion on an anti-kickback and civil monetary penalty issue
  • Represented a healthcare consulting firm in its multi-million-dollar sale to a middle-market healthcare-focused private equity fund. The transaction involved cash, rollover equity, and contingent consideration for the seller
  • Represented a private equity fund in an investment in a senior housing development business
  • Represented a private equity fund as New York local counsel in the acquisition of a home health services business
  • Represented a private equity-backed home healthcare company in an add-on acquisition of a personal care services provider
  • Represented a Staten Island group practice with 13 physicians in its acquisition by a large integrated healthcare system
  • Provided healthcare regulatory counsel to a private equity firm on its sale of a large regional hospice provider for approximately $230 million
  • Provided healthcare regulatory counsel to a private equity firm on its acquisition of a large national provider of specialized wheelchairs for approximately $110 million
  • Provided healthcare regulatory counsel to a private equity firm on its acquisition of a large regional home health and hospice company for approximately $185 million
  • Provided healthcare regulatory counsel to a private equity firm on its acquisition of a large national home care and hospice chain and then on its subsequent large and small tuck-in acquisitions for approximately $100 million and $215 million, respectively
  • Provided healthcare regulatory counsel to the seller of a diagnostic testing, health screening, and employee wellness services company sold to a publicly traded strategic investor
  • Represented a healthcare system in its merger with a community hospital
  • Assisted owner in the sale of a skilled nursing facility for a purchase price of over $21 million
  • Assisted purchaser in the sale of a skilled nursing facility for a purchase price of over $23 million
  • Represented a self-administered real estate investment trust serving the healthcare industry in the U.S. in its approximately $1.7 billion acquisition of certain assisted living and skilled nursing properties
  • Assisted a nursing facility in the development of a plan of correction for multiple citations, including immediate jeopardy and substandard care

Insights

Credentials
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Education

  • M.P.H. Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health 1998
  • J.D. Brooklyn Law School 1996
  • B.A. English and Textual Studies Syracuse University 1993

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • New York

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Member, Association for Corporate Growth NY
    • Past member, Westchester/Hudson Valley Committee
  • Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
    • Adjunct assistant professor, 2016 – present
    • Member, Alumni Board and Executive Committee
      • Chair, Governance Committee
    • Member, Alumni Advisory Board, Department of Health Policy and Management
    • Faculty advisor, September 2018 – present
    • Columbia Healthcare Ventures faculty advisor, February 2024 – present
  • Adjunct associate professor, Department of Health Science, College of Health Professions, Pace University, 2023 – present
  • Adjunct professor of law, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Pace University, January 2024 – present
  • Adjunct assistant professor, School of Health Sciences and Practice, New York Medical College, 2007 – 2023
  • Adjunct professor, The Graduate School, University of Maryland – Global Campus, 2005 – 2022
  • Adjunct associate professor of law, Brooklyn Law School, Fall 2010 – Spring 2012
  • Former member, Board of Trustees, Foundation for Quality Care, 2011 – 2019
  • Fellow, American Bar Foundation
  • American Health Law Association
    • Board member, June 2020 – present
    • Member, 2000 – present
    • Editor-in-Chief, AHLA’s Health Care Law and Policy Acronyms and Terms, 2024 
    • Member, Development and Advancement Council, 2021 – 2022
    • Former vice chair, Long Term Care, Senior Housing, In-home Care and Rehabilitation Practice Group, 2007 – 2013
    • Member, Quality Council, 2013 – 2014
    • Member, LTC and the Law Program Planning Committee, 2014 – 2020
    • Member, Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee, 2024
  • American Bar Association
    • Member, Health Law Section and Business Law Section
    • Vice chair, Editorial Board, The Health Lawyer, 2014 – 2016
    • Past chair, Private Equity Subcommittee, Healthcare and Life Sciences Committee, Business Law Section
  • Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
  • New York State Bar Association
    • Past chair, Health Law Section, 2010 – 2011
    • Member, Executive Committee, 2010 – present
    • Past chair, Committee on Long-Term Care, 2003 – 2006
    • Member, Committee on Fraud, Abuse and Compliance
  • Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Law360 Healthcare, 2024

Recognition
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  • Chambers USA, Healthcare, New York, 2021 – 2024
  • Legal 500 US, Healthcare: Life Sciences and Healthcare: Service Providers, 2021
  • The Best Lawyers in America, Health Care Law, 2012 – 2025
  • Super Lawyers, New York, 2011, 2013 – 2023
  • Lawyers Alliance for New York, Cornerstone Award, 2018
  • Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated
  • Nightingale's Healthcare News, Outstanding Young Healthcare Lawyer, 2004
  • New York State Bar Association, Empire State Counsel Honoree for Pro Bono Service, 2018