Viv Hunter has nearly 20 years of experience advising employers, health insurance issuers and third-party administrators on compliance with the full range of laws impacting health and welfare benefit plans, including tax, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA, and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Viv has defended hundreds of matters challenging the administration of health plan benefits, the calculation of “out of network” provider payments, and compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the No Surprises Act. Prior to joining Groom, Viv served as the Assistant General Counsel and HIPAA Privacy Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont and continues to advise health insurance issuers and plan sponsors on compliance with HIPAA’s privacy and security rules.
Viv has represented Fortune 500 sports and entertainment clients in tax, ERISA, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and COBRA compliance issues for employee benefit plans as a result of corporate restructuring and spin-off transactions. Viv has successfully defended allegations of noncompliance with ERISA’s fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and the ACA in Department of Labor investigations for some of the largest employer-sponsored welfare plans in the country.
An experienced negotiator, Viv has represented health plans with billions of dollars of annual spend in the procurement and contracting of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) agreements for commercial and Medicare Part D – Employer Group Waiver Plans with the nation’s leading PBMs on behalf of employer plan sponsors. In addition, Viv has negotiated hundreds of third-party administrative service agreements, direct provider contracts, and disability leave administrative agreements with nearly every administrator in the country.
More generally, Viv advises employer-sponsored welfare plans on employee benefit compliance issues under the ACA, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, HIPAA, ERISA, and COBRA.
