Ben Runkle
Email Ben | 602-381-5498
Ben Runkle focuses his practice on regulatory and transactional matters for health care providers, behavioral health organizations, and other health care entities. He advises on compliance and enforcement risk under key federal and state health care laws, supports health care organizations through audits and investigations, and helps clients navigate contracting, governance, and complex business arrangements across the health care sector.
Before joining Coppersmith Brockelman, Ben served as chief legal officer for a multistate behavioral health system and spent several years in private practice advising on regulatory compliance, enforcement risk, and health care company transactions. Prior to entering private practice, Ben served as Associate General Counsel to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), and as an Assistant Attorney General representing Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) and prosecuting fraud. Ben also brings public safety experience to his legal work, having previously served as a firefighter-paramedic and police officer.
Representative Matters
- Representing health care companies in regulatory matters, including government investigations, audits, contract terminations, payment suspensions, claim disputes, exclusions, and licensing actions.
- Counseling health care organizations on governance, enterprise risk, and strategic initiatives, including board-level advising and oversight of outside counsel.
- Supporting health care mergers and acquisitions, including performing due diligence and creating transaction documents.
- Advising health care entities on compliance with the Stark Law, the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act, HIPAA, and 42 CFR Part 2.
- Negotiating, drafting, and reviewing contracts for complex health care transactions, including agreements with governmental entities and health insurance companies.
- Advising AHCCCS on business transactions, evaluation of bids for government contracts, interagency initiatives involving federal partners, and investigations conducted by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
- Prosecuting criminal fraud while serving in government practice.
Awards & Recognitions
- Chambers USA: Health Care (2022 – 2025)
- The Best Lawyers in America©: Health Care Law; Administrative / Regulatory Law (2020 – 2025)
- Best Lawyers®, Administrative / Regulatory Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Phoenix (2025)
- Phoenix Magazine: Top Lawyers, Health Care Law (2023)
- ASU Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy: Cultural Heritage Behavioral Health Leadership Award (2017)
Publications & Presentations
- Co-author, “ARIZONA – Response to Opioid Crisis and Opioid Prescribing Requirements,” American Health Lawyers Association 50-State Survey (Nov. 6, 2019)
- Co-Presenter, “Burnout and Its Ethical Implications,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (June 24, 2025)
- Co-Presenter, “Lessons Learned (So Far): Fraud in Arizona’s Behavioral Health System,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Nov. 14, 2023)
- Presenter, “Regulatory Miscellany,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys Annual Health Law Conference (Feb. 24, 2023)
- Co-Presenter, “Conducting Investigations in Today’s Hybrid Work Environment,” HCCA Scottsdale Regional Conference (Nov. 4, 2022)
- Guest Lecturer, “Health Insurance Reform and the Law: Arizona Medicaid – AHCCCS,” Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law (Mar. 15, 2022)
- Presenter, “Fundamentals of Medicaid,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys Annual Health Law Conference (Feb. 25, 2022)
- Presenter, “Addiction Medicine and the Law,” University of Arizona Addiction Medicine Fellowship – Psychiatry Grand Rounds (Jan. 27, 2022)
- Co-Presenter, “What You Should Know about the New Stark Regulations: Overview of Significant Changes, Group Compensation and Value Based Arrangements,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (June 3, 2021)
- Co-Presenter, “Native American Health Care,” Lecture Series on AHCCCS for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (May 19, 2021)
- Presenter, “Behavioral Health,” Lecture Series on AHCCCS for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (Feb. 17, 2021)
- Presenter, “Introduction to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System,” Lecture Series on AHCCCS for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (Oct. 28, 2020)
- Co-Presenter, “Statistical Sampling and Overpayment Estimation: An Overview for Healthcare Lawyers,” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Dec. 17, 2019)
- Presenter, “Federal Privacy Laws and Other Regulatory Landmines,” Arizona Society of Addiction Medicine and Arizona Opioid Treatment Coalition Addiction Medicine Conference (Nov. 16, 2019)
- Co-Presenter, “Behavioral Health Crisis?” Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (Aug. 21, 2019)
- Co-Presenter, “Managed Care Contracting,” American Association of Health and Human Services Attorneys National Training and Education Conference (Nov. 15, 2016)
Activities & Memberships
- Treasurer, Board of Directors, Arizona Society of Healthcare Attorneys (2017 – present)
Education & Bar Admissions
- J.D., University of Notre Dame Law School, 2008
- A., University of Texas at Austin, 2005; with high honors
- Admitted in Arizona, 2008