Jeff Wurzburg (US)

Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright

Latest Articles

Public Health Officials Try to Contain Coronavirus

By Yvonne Puig (US), Daphne Calderon (US) & Jeff Wurzburg (US)

January 27, 2020

Governments around the world are continuing to take steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus. As of Monday morning, 2,744 people worldwide have become infected with the coronavirus and 80 people have died. There have been five confirmed cases in the United States, with one case in Washington, Arizona, and Illinois, and two cases in California. Internationally, patients with coronavirus have been identified in Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Macao, Singapore, Japan, South Korea,…

Health Law Pulse

Texas Finalizes New Nursing Peer Review Committee Requirement for ASCs and Freestanding EDs

By Yvonne Puig (US), Daphne Calderon (US) & Jeff Wurzburg (US)

January 27, 2020

In final rules published in the January 24, 2020 Texas Register, the Texas Department of State Health Services established a new operational requirement for ambulatory surgical centers and freestanding emergency medical care facilities to establish a nursing peer review committee. The changes had been proposed on September 13, 2019. The Department did not receive any comments regarding either proposed rule and the final rules were adopted without changes to the proposed text. The…

Health Law Pulse

U.S. Prepares for Deadly Coronavirus

By Yvonne Puig (US), Daphne Calderon (US) & Jeff Wurzburg (US)

January 22, 2020

Earlier this week the CDC confirmed the United States had its first case of a deadly new strain of coronavirus “2019-nCoV.” The patient is from Washington state and was returning to the United States from Wuhan, China. At least seventeen people in China have died from the coronavirus. In a press release, the CDC stated that “[w]hile originally thought to be spreading from animal-to-person, there are growing indications that limited person-to-person spread is…

Health Law Pulse

U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the ACA’s individual mandate penalty is unconstitutional and remands the case to the lower court to examine severability

By Jeff Wurzburg (US)

December 19, 2019

On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Texas v. Azar that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate is unconstitutional and remanded the case to the lower court for further review. In a split 2-1 panel decision, the Fifth Circuit held that the individual mandate is unconstitutional because it can no longer be read as a tax. The district court must now determine whether the individual…

Health Law Pulse

Medicaid Update: South Carolina Becomes the First Non-Expansion State Approved to Implement Medicaid Work Requirements

By Jeff Wurzburg (US)

December 13, 2019

On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the Trump administration announced its approval of South Carolina’s request to condition Medicaid eligibility on work or community engagement activities. In a joint statement released on Thursday by CMS Administrator Seema Verma and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Governor McMaster stated that “[i]n this economy, there is no excuse for the able-bodied not to be working.” South Carolina is the first non-expansion state to receive an approval to implement work…

Health Law Pulse

HHS Memorandum Addresses Implications of Allina Decision

By Chandra Westergaard (US) & Jeff Wurzburg (US)

November 26, 2019

On November 21, an internal HHS memorandum addressed to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Principal Deputy Administrator Demetrios Kouzoukas entitled “Impact of Allina on Medicare Payment Rules” became publicly available. The memorandum addresses the HHS Office of the General Counsel’s (OGC) “views on the impact of Azar v. Allina Health Services, 139 S. Ct. 1804 (2019), on Medicare payment rules and compliance actions based on those payment rules” and provides unique and rare…

Health Law Pulse

CMS Publishes CY 2020 OPPS & ASC Price Transparency Requirements Final Rule and Transparency in Coverage Proposed Rule

By Mark Faccenda (US), Jeff Wurzburg (US) & Thomas Dowdell (US)

November 20, 2019

On November 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) & Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Price Transparency Requirements for Hospitals to Make Standard Changes Public final rule and the Transparency in Coverage proposed rule. CMS intends through this rulemaking to increase price transparency in the healthcare system. CY 2020 OPPS & ASC Price Transparency Requirements for Hospitals Final Rule This final rule…

Health Law Pulse

CMS Proposes Major Changes in Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule

By Jeff Wurzburg (US) & Thomas Dowdell (US)

November 20, 2019

On November 12, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule for public inspection entitled Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation. CMS states that the intent of the proposed rule is to ensure that state supplemental payments and financing arrangements under the Medicaid program are consistent with federal statutory requirements. In a fact sheet released concurrently with the proposed rule, CMS describes that in recent years Medicaid spending has increased from $456…

Health Law Pulse

CMS Releases Final Rule on CY 2020 Physician Fee Schedule Updates and Implements Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Programs

By Jeff Wurzburg (US), Thomas Dowdell (US) & Mark Faccenda (US)

November 12, 2019

On November 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that updates the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rates and policies for calendar year (CY) 2020 and expands Medicare coverage to opioid treatment programs (OTPs) that treat beneficiaries with opioid use disorder (OUD). In a fact sheet accompanying the final rule, CMS explains that “this final rule is one of several rules that reflect a broader Administration-wide strategy to…

Health Law Pulse

CY 2020 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule

By Thomas Dowdell (US), Mark Faccenda (US) & Jeff Wurzburg (US)

November 11, 2019

On November 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its CY 2020 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System final rule. The final rule implements a number of significant changes to payment policies and rates for services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers. Updates to OPPS Payment Rates In the final rule CMS increases Medicare OPPS payment…

Jeff Wurzburg (US)

Public Health Officials Try to Contain Coronavirus

Texas Finalizes New Nursing Peer Review Committee Requirement for ASCs and Freestanding EDs

U.S. Prepares for Deadly Coronavirus

U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the ACA’s individual mandate penalty is unconstitutional and remands the case to the lower court to examine severability

Medicaid Update: South Carolina Becomes the First Non-Expansion State Approved to Implement Medicaid Work Requirements

HHS Memorandum Addresses Implications of Allina Decision

CMS Publishes CY 2020 OPPS & ASC Price Transparency Requirements Final Rule and Transparency in Coverage Proposed Rule

CMS Proposes Major Changes in Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule

CMS Releases Final Rule on CY 2020 Physician Fee Schedule Updates and Implements Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Programs

CY 2020 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule

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