Steven T. Voigt

Steve is a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a member of the health care group.  He has more than 25 years of legal experience spanning C-suite government service, sophisticated private practice, and high-stakes litigation, with a particular focus on health care law and administration.

Prior to joining Vorys, Steve served as the assistant director and general counsel of the Ohio Department of Medicaid, and before this, as the chief legal counsel to Medicaid.  He also served as a principal assistant attorney general for the State of Ohio, where he was lead trial counsel on numerous high-profile cases having nationwide significance.  Two of these cases reached the United States Supreme Court. 

Steve has significant experience counseling clients on complex litigation, government audits, requests for procurements, high-dollar contract negotiations, process innovations, and more.  He is deeply familiar with legal topics affecting the health care system and is especially knowledgeable about navigating complex state and federal relationships with private health care.  His experience extends to hospitals and health systems, physicians’ groups, pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers, manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and more.

Steve’s litigation experience has taken him to numerous states and has also included lengthy stays in Europe gathering evidence and taking depositions abroad.  Steve’s litigation experience and successes include health care, constitutional law, statutory topics, government disputes, fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract, non-compete clauses, pharmaceutical disputes, wrongful death, and executive pay and wage payment cases. 

Representative Experience:

Complex Litigation Involving Private Parties and Government Entities

• Managed Ohio Medicaid’s defense against an unsuccessful bidder’s challenge to the Next Generation of Managed Care procurement.  The litigation involved numerous depositions, briefs, and a lengthy trial, resulting in a decision in favor of the agency dismissing all claims brought by the plaintiff.
• As general counsel and chief legal counsel to Ohio Medicaid, managed a portfolio of complex and diverse litigation, as well as strategies for litigation avoidance and amicable resolution involving the agency. Topics included protecting the health, safety, and welfare of Medicaid members and Ohioans, disputes about alleged proprietary information, rate and reimbursement disagreements, claims related to pharmaceutical spread pricing and steering, health care coverage issues, and many more.
• Lead trial counsel defending Ohio’s voter list maintenance procedures against a challenge under the National Voter Registration Act, with a judgment in favor of Ohio issued by a federal district court. Thereafter, member of the appellate team before the S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Counseled majority owners of an American technology company in a series of complex lawsuits against corporate adversaries and financial institutions that allegedly made misrepresentations causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for the American company's owners. These matters involved extensive discovery, numerous depositions, and hundreds of thousands of documents exchanged.
• First chair in expedited litigation before a federal district court defending Ohio’s election calendar. Thereafter, served as member of the appellate team that appealed the district court’s decision and secured a victory for Ohio.
• Lead trial and appellate counsel defending Ohio’s telecommunications anti-harassment law. The district court ruled in Ohio’s favor.  The Sixth Circuit affirmed.
• First chair in a 10-day federal trial defending Ohio in a lawsuit challenging numerous election laws and procedures. The court ruled in Ohio’s favor on 10 of 11 issues.  Thereafter, member of the appellate team that obtained reversal of the single issue not won before the district court.
• Co-lead counsel in a three-week trial defending Ohio’s redistricting map.
• Lead trial counsel defending the Ohio Down Syndrome Non-Discrimination Act against a constitutional challenge filed in the Southern District of Ohio.
• As first chair, obtained a substantial recovery for a warrant holder in a “must-win” corporate case.  This litigation included work in Delaware, New York, and California.
• Second chair litigator in the successful defense of a health care acquisition that included alleged violations by the opposing company of a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement.
• Co-lead counsel in the successful defense of a board of directors against a multimillion-dollar wage payment claim.
• Obtained a seven-figure insurance recovery after an IT company sustained a significant business interruption loss.
• Lengthy, multi-year class action litigation involving the pharmaceutical industry two separate prescription drugs.

Leadership in Health Care Transactions, Operations, and Policy

• Served as chief legal advisor for the procurement of the statewide Medicaid Next Generation managed care program (the first Ohio Medicaid procurement in more than a decade).  Developed innovative protections for Ohio Medicaid’s procurements that reduce risk and protect the integrity of procurement processes.
• Served as chief legal advisor for the procurement of Ohio’s first single state pharmacy benefit manager.
• Substantial involvement developing and drafting multiple, complicated Requests for Proposals for different lines of IT and operations work supporting Medicaid's delivery to Ohioans.
• Negotiated large Medicaid contracts, involving tens of millions of dollars.
• Led the implementation of large agency initiatives and programs, including the federally required electronic visit verification program.
• Developed new and innovative tracking, oversight, and compliance procedures and process flows for high-dollar Medicaid contracts, invoices and service delivery, obtaining recognition for efforts to increase transparency, improve health outcomes, and steward of taxpayer dollars.
• Led audits of Ohio Medicaid, facilitating cooperation with state and federal auditors and developing the agency’s responses.  This work included developing new process flows and novel approaches that improved efficiency.
• Developed and assessed Medicaid-imposed corrective action plans addressing audit findings and other identified performance weaknesses of vendors and business partners.
• Key relationship manager for large vendors, providers, other state and federal agencies, and advocacy groups.
• Managed vendor performance including reviewing metrics, SLA requirements, and change orders.
• Extensive legal work related to administrative rules, especially during COVID.  This included significant work related to telehealth innovation.
• Resolved complex data sharing topics to maintain compliance with state and federal statutes and regulations.

Steve's work with Ohio Medicaid also included important policy decision-making and external relations, and he is deeply familiar with the operation of state government and the partnership of state and federal administration over health care.  Nearly half of the agency reported to Steve including the office legal counsel, the legislative department, the bureau of program integrity, the department of contracts and procurement, the department of operations, the department of information technology, and the department of privacy and HIPAA compliance.

Steven received his J.D. from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was a member of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review.  He received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University (University Park).

Honors & Recognitions

Excellence in Writing Award, The Ohio Attorney General, 2016

“Pennsylvania Lawyer on the Fast Track,” American Lawyer Media, 2007

Graduate, Appellate Advocacy Training Program, National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute, Washington D.C.

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars, seven years