Leela K. Baggett

Leela K. Baggett is a Principal in Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville's healthcare practice.

Leela advises healthcare providers, practitioners, and device manufacturers on a broad range of regulatory, litigation, and legislative matters. With years of experience navigating complex healthcare law, Leela provides clients with strategic counsel in the following areas:

• Medicare Compliance: Leela advises healthcare providers and practitioners on compliance with Medicare’s coverage, reimbursement, and enrollment requirements. Her expertise helps clients navigate the intricate rules and regulations set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), minimizing the risk of non-compliance, optimizing revenue cycles, and helping healthcare systems better serve their patients. She works closely with her clients to structure their operations to maximize reimbursement while improving access to healthcare items and services.
• Coding and Reimbursement Matters: Leela assists healthcare innovators with complex coding issues, including navigating the coding verification process administered by the Pricing, Data Analysis, and Coding (PDAC) contractor.  She also offers strategic advice on submitting HCPCS Level II coding and payment applications to CMS for novel products.
• Medicare Fee-for-Service Appeals: Leela represents healthcare providers and practitioners in Medicare fee-for-service claim appeals. She provides comprehensive legal support in challenging claim denials and managing audits from CMS, helping practitioners and providers effectively dispute erroneous decisions and recover owed reimbursements. She also represents hospitals with cost report matters before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB).
• Advocacy for Legislative and Regulatory Policy: Leela’s deep understanding of healthcare policy allows her to advocate for legislation and regulatory initiatives championed by healthcare providers, practitioners, and manufacturers.  She works with legislators and regulators to drive meaningful policy that improve access to care and reimbursement for essential items and services.
• Representation of Trade Associations: Leela provides strategic representation for trade associations of clinicians, advocating for their interests at the legislative, regulatory, and policy levels. She helps shape healthcare policies that impact clinicians, their practice environments, and reimbursement structures, thereby advancing both the business interests of healthcare organizations and the delivery of high-quality patient care.
• Clinical Data Registries: Leela regularly advises clinical data registries, assisting them in complying with complex Medicare standards. These registries play a critical role in driving quality improvement initiatives, enhancing care outcomes, and supporting value-based care models.

Leela’s extensive legal and legislative expertise, combined with her deep understanding of healthcare regulatory frameworks, positions her as a trusted advisor for clients facing the dynamic challenges of today’s healthcare landscape.

She received her Juris Doctor, with honors, from The George Washington University Law School in 2015. While in law school, Leela served as an intern at the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and as a health policy intern at the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. She also served as a Notes and Projects Editor of The George Washington Law Review, President of the Student Health Law Association, Treasurer of the Political Law Society, and a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board.