Rest in Peace Lavonya Chapman

Rafael Gonzalez, Esq., Cattie & Gonzalez, PLLC

I recently attended a service in loving memory of Lavonya Chapman, who passed away on January 8, 2022. Lavonya was one of the most respected Medicare Secondary Payer leaders in our industry. In our MSP community, she was a co-worker many relied on, an industry peer many went to for counsel and advice, and a friend to many who needed a helping hand.

She was all of those things to me; but even more so, she was a larger than life, smart, funny, strong, spiritual, graceful, kind, and caring friend who became a part of our family.

I met her at what else, a Medicare Secondary Payer legal educational event in Alabama in 2008. It was love at first sight.

She was a smart, funny, strong, knowledgeable, experienced nurse turn lawyer who had been working in the medical malpractice and nursing home claims space for years.

As a result of this experience she was intimately aware of and very tuned into MSP law, regulations, policy, and procedure. Yeap, it was definitely MSP love at first sight.

After the seminar, we spoke for hours about working in the MSP space, the day to day challenges, the legal components associated with it, and the non-legal responsibilities pertaining to it.

She shared with me her desire to work in the industry and asked for my help to introduce her to folks and organizations in the MSP space. I promised her to be of as much help and assistance as I could be, including hiring her myself.

I could not convince my folks to hire her at the Center for MSA Administration. When I moved over to Gould & Lamb, got them to interview her, but wasn’t able to get hem to hire her. It wasn’t until I moved over to PMSI that I was finally able to convince our team to interview and hire her.

And so finally, I made her my "work wife." Loved it! She would remind me how wrong I was about everything on a daily basis. She was not shy about disagreeing with me about my statutory and regulatory interpretation of the MSP law. And of course, she again and again and again made sure I knew how she felt about my politics.

Once we became Helios, we began to present together often. Whether internal training sessions, external client webinar presentations, or live conference discussions, we were inseparable. We presented at over 100 programs together throughout the country.

As my "work wife," she knew what I was thinking and where I was headed with every comment, observation, and argument. Of course, she had an answer for each and everyone of them. Oftentimes, reminding me how wrong I was, how incorrect my analysis was, how out of touch my conclusions were.

I always took the injured worker, Medicare beneficiary side. She always took the employer, carrier, TPA side. I always took the more expansive interpretation of the law. She always took the more conservative view of the law.

As a result, our programs were filled with different points of view, different versions of the law, different interpretations of legal provisions, and ultimately different solutions to MSP compliance.

The audiences and our clients loved it. We often received praise from those in attendance exclaiming how much they enjoyed the fun and friendly back and forth between us, the comprehensive examination of the issues, and ultimate the well thought out solutions we proposed and recommended.

When I left Helios to become President of Flagship, we promised each other to stay close, and we did. We talked on a weekly basis, continued to present together, and had lunch periodically. Undeniably, I missed her. Missed her advocacy, her spark, her energy, her intelligence, and frankly, her disagreeing with me about anything and everything under the sun. I missed my "work wife."

So, when I was invited to return to Optum, she was a big part of that decision. And she knew it! Yes, she reminded me every day how much I missed her calling me out on every component of my politics, and her challenging me on every aspect of MSP law.

But as all of you well know, there was a spiritual, graceful, kind, and caring side to Lavonya. She would thank me, almost every day, for bringing kindness, gentleness, understanding, caring, and love to Optum. She made it a point, often, to remind me that how I treated, advocated, and stood up for our folks was making a difference in their lives and their work.

As a result, we prayed together often. Lavonya and I were always the last 2 folks in the building. Our offices were next to each other, so we ended every day speaking about our challenges, our goals, our wins, and our people. We ended every work night by giving thanks for allowing us to lead our folks and improve their lives. I always asked her to lead us in prayer, and she did.

She asked for the Lord to provide me grace, wisdom, forgiveness, leadership, and understanding. She thanked him every night for my return, for my humanity, for my gentleness, for my caring for our folks, for my desire to serve our team in every manner, in every way.

I am grateful for her leadership, for her wisdom, for her care, for her prayers, and for her love. I am forever thankful for her willingness to share her knowledge, her experience, and her spirit with me and those around us.

I respect her. She was bright, intelligent, and informed. She was my equal on all components of MSP law. She was one of a few folks in our industry I could have the most in-depth conversation and analysis about any aspect of Medicare compliance.

I admire her. She was righteous, consistent, and principled. No matter the issue, the politics, the interests, she was steadfast, solid, and focused. She always provided what was right, what was correct, what had to be done.

I love her. She was strong, willed, kind, and committed. She was a counselor, an advocate, a confidant, a leader. She was a co-worker and a personal friend, a part of our family.

Love, respect, admire, and grateful for Lavonya Chapman. I am better for having met her and worked with her. I am grateful for her friendship, her guidance, and her leadership. I am forever thankful for her, her spirit, her wisdom, and her care.

Rest in peace Lavonya Chapman.