William A. Dombi has been chosen as Interim President of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). The NAHC Board of Directors voted to appoint him to this role following the recent death of longtime NAHC President Val. J. Halamandaris. The board’s decision is recognition of Dombi’s three decades as NAHC’s Vice President for Law, stellar service as Executive Director of the Home Care & Hospice Financial Managers Association, and committed advocacy on behalf of both patients and providers.

Indeed, Dombi has made a difference for millions of the aged, disabled, and ill during his nearly 40 years in health care policy and law. Since 1975, he has been involved in virtually all legislative and regulatory efforts affecting home care and hospice, including the expansion of the Medicare home health benefit in 1980, the formation of the hospice benefit in 1983, the institution of Medicare PPS for home health in 2000, and the massive health care reform legislation of 2010.

He has also brought his battle for better health care into the courts. He was lead counsel in the landmark lawsuit that reformed the Medicare home health services benefit and other actions that challenged HMO home care cutbacks for high-tech home care patients. He spearheaded lawsuits against Medicaid programs for inadequate payment rates. And he now plays a prominent role in current lawsuits contesting the Medicare home health face-to-face encounter rule and Department of Labor changes to overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Outside the court room, he serves the community and our nation’s caregivers by providing education and information. He lectures on a wide range of topics including market trends in home care, compliance, risk management, patient rights, fraud and abuse, health care reimbursement and reform, along with legal issues in telehealth services to patients. He is responsible for publications, videos, and teleconferences that attract audiences nationwide. And he is the editor and lead author of Home Care & Hospice Law: A Handbook for Executives, the only comprehensive legal treatise on the topic.

His unique expertise has gained him admittance to numerous federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court and several Courts of Appeals. He has served on the advisory board of Bloomberg BNA’s Health Law Report and Medicare Report. He earned a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Connecticut, and he is a longstanding member of the American Health Lawyers Association and American Bar Association.

These many achievements make Dombi the right person, bar none, to lead NAHC at this time of transition. Whatever the future may hold, both patients and providers can trust in his experience, expertise, and ideals to advance NAHC’s ongoing mission: make home care and hospice the heart of health care in our nation. As both a lawyer and leader, he is committed to making quality, compassionate care the law of the land. To learn more about NAHC, visit www.nahc.org.