Benjamin P. Townsend

Experience

Ben Townsend has been with Kozak & Gayer since the founding of the firm in 1995.

Following his graduation from law school, Ben clerked for Justice Samuel W. Collins, Jr., of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. After completing a one-year clerkship, he practiced as an associate at Maine’s largest law firm until leaving with Joe Kozak and Gordon Gayer to help establish Kozak & Gayer.

Ben maintains a health care law practice with an emphasis on advising hospitals and their affiliates with regard to strategic and transactional planning, regulatory compliance, and clinical practice issues. He has also advised physicians and other health care professionals with regard to staff privileges, professional licensure, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and other issues. He has in-depth knowledge in the fields of antitrust, fraud and abuse, tax exemption, and confidentiality of health information.

Practice Specialties

Contract Drafting, Review and Negotiation
HIPAA, Confidentiality & Privacy
ACOs, CO-OPs, Provider-Sponsored Networks
Integration/Affiliation Transactions
Nonprofit Corporations; Tax Exemption
Reimbursement
EMTALA
Compliance (Stark, Fraud & Abuse, etc.)
Financing Matters (MHHEFA, etc.)

Teaching and Presentations

Ben has served as an adjunct professor in the graduate program in health policy and management offered through the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, where he developed, and for three years co-taught, a course in health law. He has regularly been a guest lecturer for that course, as well as a frequent presenter to other groups on health care topics such as compliance programs, HIPAA, confidentiality, mental health treatment, and health care reform.

Honors & Distinctions

Ben has been listed under the category of “Health Care Law” in the Woodward/White publication, The Best Lawyers in America since 2007. He was named the 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021 “Lawyer of the Year” for Health Care Law for Augusta – ME.

Community Service

Ben has served on the boards of various local non-profit organizations, including Community Mediation Services and the Kennebec Land Trust, and he frequently provides pro bonogovernance and tax exemption advice to small nonprofits. He served for eight years on the Grievance Commission of the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, including two terms as Chair.

Personal Interests

Ben is an active rock climber, ice climber, and mountaineer. His self-published climbing guidebook, Rock and Ice Climbs in the Camden Hills, is currently in its fourth edition. He lives in Chelsea, Maine, with his wife Dorcas Miller, a naturalist, writer, and teacher.