New Policy to Remove Barriers to COVID-19 Testing
On February 26, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Labor and Department of Treasury issued guidance removing barriers to COVID-19 diagnostic testing and vaccinations and strengthening requirements that plans and issuers cover diagnostic testing without cost sharing. This guidance makes clear that private group health plans and issuers generally cannot use […]
Yes, New Jersey, There is Still a Public Health Emergency
On July 2, 2020, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order No. 162 to extend the Public Health Emergency (PHE) that was declared on March 9, 2020 through Executive Order No. 103. Under the Emergency Health Powers Act, a declared public health emergency expires after 30 days unless renewed. The PHE was previously extended on April 7th […]
Hospital and Ambulatory Surgery Center Elective Surgery and Invasive Procedure Guidance Issued By Department of Health
As set forth in Executive Order 145 (issued May 15th, 2020), hospitals and other health care facilities may resume elective surgeries and invasive procedures on May 26th, 2020. Guidance for hospital resumption of elective procedures was issued on May 19, 2020 and can be found here: https://nj.gov/health/legal/covid19/5-19-2020_HospitalGuidance_forResumingElectives.pdf. Guidelines for ambulatory surgery centers can be found […]
Resumption of Elective Surgeries in New Jersey Announced
At the daily Covid-19 briefing held on Friday May 15th, Governor Murphy and Commissioner of Health Persichelli announced that New Jersey health care facilities can resume the provision of elective surgeries on Tuesday, May 26th. Further guidance regarding protocols that will need to be in place should be issued by Monday, May 18th.
Governor’s Executive Order 112 Gives Civil Immunity To Healthcare Facilities and Limited Group of Practitioners
Below is a summary of the Executive Order 112, which was issued in an effort to expand the capacity of NJ’s healthcare by (i) waiving certain requirements to allow retired and foreign physicians to become temporarily licensed in NJ; (ii) removing certain limits on the scope of practice for Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants, […]
Governor Murphy Issues Executive Order Mandating Legal Immunity for Healthcare Workers
Governor Murphy’s new executive order mandates legal immunity for healthcare workers providing services during COVID-19 crisis. Issued on Wednesday April, 1st, this is no April Fools’ joke, as Governor Murphy has provided for legal immunity for healthcare workers to provide medical services during this COVID-19 crisis that may be outside of the normal “scope of […]
NJDOBI Mandates Insurance Carriers to Reimburse Providers for Telemedicine and Telehealth Encounters During State of Emergency and Public Health Emergency
NJDOBI issued Bulletin 20-07 to mandate insurance carriers to reimburse providers for telemedicine and telehealth encounters. This applies to: (1) all health insurance companies; all HMOs; all health service corporations and any other entity issuing health benefits plans in New Jersey. The mandate requires the insurance carriers to do the following: Review their telemedicine and […]