Brenna Jenny

Practice Areas

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 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 represents healthcare clients in challenges to government action under the Administrative Procedure Act, including with respect to the No Surprises Act, physician payment models, and Affordable Care Act regulations.