Ropes & Gray’s Health Care Practice Grows with Arrival of David Ault

Ropes & Gray’s market-leading health care practice is growing again with the arrival of David Ault as counsel, based in Washington, D.C. David joins a team of the nation’s top ranked health care lawyers, who act as business advisers to health care clients on the full spectrum of deal, regulatory, compliance, governance, litigation and enforcement issues.  

David, who has previously served as a lawyer at Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a director at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), pairs an insider’s understanding of these organizations with a commercial approach to counseling his clients. 

He advises complex health systems, health care providers and payers on the regulatory, contracting, compliance and litigation aspects of health insurance. He also advises clients on the analytical underpinnings of government health insurance models and regulations, the inner workings of the regulatory bodies who develop these systems, as well as the compliance challenges and litigation risks that health insurance stakeholders face. 

“David’s deep understanding of the entire lifecycle of CMS payment models complements our leading practice focused on regulatory and reimbursement matters,” said Deborah Gersh, partner and co-chair of Ropes & Gray health care practice. “We continue to grow the team that advises on complex payment models, especially as value-based care continues its emergence as a key economic driver.” 

Among his accomplishments, David served in several roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It included serving as lead CMS counsel on cases of first impression before federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He litigated numerous Affordable Care Act cases that challenged innovative initiatives for payment and delivery of care. He served as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

David became a Senior Advisor at CMMI, advising on payment and delivery models, and initiatives that affect value based care. David also served as the Director, Division of Financial Risk at CMMI. He developed multiple new payment models across the Medicare program. 

“Ropes & Gray has successfully advised major health care clients on critical strategic, operational, complex regulatory and value-based care matters to position them for growth and success,” said David. “I could not be joining a better team.”