BRENNA JENNY leverages her experience in senior roles both within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Division to represent clients in the healthcare industry in government enforcement actions, internal investigations, and compliance reviews. Brenna has been recognized by Law360 as a “Rising Star” in Healthcare (2021) and is ranked in Chambers as an “Up and Coming” healthcare lawyer “who excels at solving complex legal problems.”
Brenna previously served as the Principal Deputy General Counsel at HHS and the Chief Legal Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In that role, Brenna supervised an unprecedented wave of regulatory flexibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including waivers related to telehealth services. She also served as the principal legal adviser to the $178 billion CARES Act Provider Relief Fund and led HHS’s coordination with DOJ and the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) on civil and criminal enforcement of fraud relating to the Provider Relief Fund. Brenna was deeply involved in HHS’s regulatory reform efforts, including the changes finalized in 2020 to the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute regulations, the development and implementation of the HHS Good Guidance Practices regulation and the Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement Actions regulation, and the Department’s work to come into compliance with notice-and-comment obligations under the Social Security Act, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Azar v. Allina Health Services, 139 S. Ct. 1804 (2019).
Brenna routinely advised CMS on a variety of regulatory matters, including major payment rules, and she supervised HHS attorneys who defended the Department in Administrative Procedure Act challenges to HHS regulatory actions. Through her leadership at HHS, Brenna is familiar with the most pressing issues facing both healthcare providers and life sciences companies. Brenna counsels clients on a range of fraud and abuse risk areas, including remediation through self-disclosures to HHS and responding to inquiries by Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs). Brenna also advises provider clients on compliance with, and litigation strategy relating to, the No Surprises Act.
Brenna was a co-founder of the HHS False Claims Act Working Group and regularly consulted with law enforcement at DOJ and HHS-OIG on fraud and abuse matters relating to HHS programs. Prior to joining HHS, Brenna served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division of DOJ. In this capacity, Brenna supervised False Claims Act matters and opioid-related investigations, in addition to advising on litigation strategy for healthcare-related lawsuits.
Brenna also has experience with congressional investigations. While at HHS, she led, on an interim basis, the HHS Office of the General Counsel team working on House oversight inquiries and investigations.
Prior to her government service, Brenna was a member of Sidley’s Healthcare practice. Brenna represented drug and device manufacturers and institutional healthcare providers in fraud and abuse investigations and litigation under the False Claims Act. She also conducted internal investigations and audits relating to various healthcare compliance matters.
Before joining Sidley, Brenna clerked for the Honorable Raymond W. Gruender of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Brenna received her law degree and Masters in Public Health in a joint degree program from Harvard University.