WASHINGTON—Miriam Harmatz, a senior health law attorney with Florida Legal Services, Inc. (FLS), has joined the National Health Law Program’s (NHeLP) board of directors. NHeLP protects and advances the health care rights of low-income and underserved individuals.
Harmatz has worked in FLS’s Miami Advocacy Office since 1996 and serves as an adjunct professor in the Health Law Clinic at Florida International University College of Law. She specializes in advocacy and litigation on health law issues affecting low-income Floridians. Last year, she was honored with the Florida Bar Foundation’s Paul Doyle Children’s Advocacy Award.
“I am so pleased to have Miriam join our board,” said Elizabeth G. Taylor, NHeLP executive director. “As both an advocate and a litigator, Miriam has committed her legal career to ensuring health care as a right for all people. There is no doubt that she will make great contributions on our board.”
“Miriam brings a wealth of expertise, knowledge and passion to NHeLP’s board,” said Marc Fleischaker, NHeLP board chair. “We are fortunate to have a diverse range of talents with which to support and strengthen NHeLP in the coming years.”
Harmatz has decades of litigation experience, including a number of cases resulting in systemic relief for Medicaid beneficiaries. At Florida International University, Harmatz leads law clinic students in collaborative work on systemic issues that impact access to health care in medically underserved Miami neighborhoods. She has worked extensively with NHeLP on a number of cases, including partnering Florida Legal Services with NHeLP in a complaint against Miami-Dade County’s Jackson Health System over its charity care practices. The complaint is the first of its kind and seeks to have strong enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s charity care requirements.
Harmatz received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin and her Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
The oldest non-profit of its kind, NHeLP advocates, educates and litigates at the federal and state levels.
