Impact Story: Emily Cook

Navigating the Ever-Changing Landscape with AHLA

Emily helps clients in the health care regulatory and reimbursement space. She became a member of AHLA as a law student and took full advantage of the many opportunities that AHLA offers to students for free. Now, almost 15 years later, she uses AHLA’s resources to help her identify trends and patterns that can help her clients understand the complex laws that arise in health care. She encourages all young professionals to get involved at AHLA to get exposure to important aspects of the industry.

I have worked in the health policy space for several years and have enjoyed the rigorous and often demanding role I play as a Partner at McDermott, Will, and Emery. As part of my undergraduate degree, I received a certificate in health care policy and later obtained a master’s degree in public health. My master’s degree provided an incredible opportunity to work for the government in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA.) While there, I developed an interest in health care reimbursement and regulations surrounding federal healthcare program payments. I was able to work on implementing payment provisions including many of the provider reimbursement and network adequacy rules developed under the Medicare Modernization Act. After several years, I decided to go to law school to broaden my opportunities to do health care regulatory and reimbursement work. While I was still with HRSA, I connected with Eric Zimmerman, a long-time AHLA member and Partner at McDermott, Will, and Emery, who got me involved in AHLA and was an incredible mentor in guiding me to where I am today.

Now almost 15 years into the practice of law, my work focuses on strategic and forward-focused thinking to advise health care providers on what is around the corner for health law. I enjoy finding trends and patterns that tell a story to help clients understand the complex laws and circumstances that arise in health care. As many health law professionals know, everything is constantly changing in health care. While we can evaluate current rules, that does not necessarily mean those will be the rules of tomorrow. It is critically important to be informed on what is happening in the world of health law to provide clients with the context they need to solve their existing problems.

I have been involved with AHLA since I was a law student, accessing AHLA's resources, programs, and offerings for free until I graduated. As a student starting out, this benefit alone gave me access to a rich database of health law information that lifted my understanding of the industry. This offering gives students such an advantage, lending them exposure to concepts and changes that are going on in the health law space while providing a foundation for them to hit the ground running if they decide to practice health law.

I joined the RAP practice group during my first year as an attorney. At that time, the group had regular conference calls where everyone got to share what they were working on and how they overcame challenges in the regulatory space. I credit much of my current work in the 340B space to these interactions with RAP practice group. AHLA has afforded me many opportunities to be a learner, mentor, and speaker. I have spoken at AHLA’s Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues program since I was a junior associate. It is a significant mark of credibility that you are the expert selected to speak on issues that impact the entire health law community. AHLA is an association of experts who build each other up, providing a solid foundation for new associates to enhance their careers and gain valuable knowledge to improve the health law landscape.