David R Ross - Latham, NY

David Ross is a Shareholder at O’Connell and Aronowitz, P.C., a firm that recently celebrated its 100th anniversary and now serves clients from a new office in Latham, New York, in addition to its longstanding Saratoga Springs location. David focuses his practice on Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance audits and investigations, health law matters including fraud and abuse, governmental investigations of all kinds, administrative hearings, federal and state False Claims Act whistleblower cases, Medicaid compliance plans, professional misconduct matters, and Article 78 proceedings. He leads the firm’s Government Investigations Unit and is a member of its Healthcare Fraud and Abuse Unit.

David has represented health care providers throughout New York State, including across the Capital Region, on compliance matters, regulatory interpretation, Medicaid and Medicare self-disclosures, and audits conducted by the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, Medicare contractors, and private payors. He is a frequent speaker at provider group conferences and training events across the Capital Region and beyond, including for the New York State Center for Assisted Living, the New York State Health Facilities Association, NYSARC and The Arc of New York, CPANYS, the New York Council of Nonprofits, and the Association for Community Living.

Before joining O’Connell and Aronowitz to enter private practice, David held a series of high-ranking positions within New York State government. Former Governor George Pataki appointed him General Counsel of the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General when the office was created in 2005 in response to widespread public concern over Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse. The Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, an office within the New York State Department of Health, was established to maximize the recovery of misspent Medicaid funds and serves as the central coordinating body for the state’s anti-fraud efforts.

Alongside his role as General Counsel, David served as Deputy Medicaid Inspector General for Audits and Investigations, directing a statewide staff of 364 auditors, investigators, and private contractors and overseeing every audit and investigation involving Medicaid providers. He worked closely with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office on numerous cases of alleged criminal fraud, and under Governors Pataki and Spitzer, he capped his state government career as Acting Medicaid Inspector General, leading statewide operations and a staff of 584 across seven offices.

Earlier in his career, David held several positions at the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, now known as the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, including Acting General Counsel, Deputy Counsel, and Associate Counsel. Before that, he built a strong foundation in criminal and administrative law as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau, where he handled criminal and civil cases, complex investigations, and numerous Article 78 proceedings across the state. He has also served as a Senior Assistant District Attorney and an Assistant Public Defender in County, City, Town, and Village Courts throughout the region.

David was a weekly on-air legal analyst for TALK 1300 AM’s Capital District radio talk show, hosted by Paul Vandenburgh.