Stephen Elwell is a partner with Gjerset & Lorenz, LLP. Mr. Elwell focuses on assisting hospitals in a variety of regulatory, compliance, and transactional matters.

Representative Experience

• Developed Medicaid supplemental payment programs for hospitals in several states, including numerous regional Medicaid supplemental payment programs in Texas.
• Assisted in due diligence analysis related to several hospital acquisitions through analysis of viability of current Medicaid revenue streams and identification of opportunities for additional sources of revenue.
• Assisted freestanding psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment facilities in several states to develop and propose Medicaid reimbursement methodologies which more appropriately reimburse the unique costs incurred by these facilities.
• Advised numerous Texas hospitals with Medicaid Disproportionate Share hospital funding compliance reporting and appeals.
• Drafted lease agreements, management agreements, option agreements, promissory notes and security agreements related to transfer of ownership interests for hospitals.

Professional Affiliations and Activities

• Secretary, Austin Health Lawyers Association.
• Member, Austin Young Lawyers Association.

Speeches and Publications

• Preemption of Contract Claims by the Medicare Act: An Analysis of the Recent Holding In Lifecare Hospitals v. Ochsner Health Plan, REVIEW OF LITIGATION, Vol. 24, p. 127 (positively cited by the Texas Supreme Court in Christus Health Gulf Coast, et. al. v. Aetna Inc., et. al., 237 S.W.3d 338, 343 (Tex. 2007) and the United States District Court for the Western District of New York in Canadaigua Emergency Squad, Inc. et.al., v. Rochester Area Health Maintenance Organization, Inc., 2011 WL 43268 (Jan. 6, 2011)).
• The Changing Medicaid Landscape, Healthcare Financial Management Association – Texas Gulf Coast Chapter, Oct. 20, 2006.
• Hospital Charity Care Guidelines and Reporting, Texas Association for Healthcare Financial Administration, March 22, 2010.
• Texas Private Hospital Medical Upper Payment Limit Programs, Texas Indigent Health Care Association, October 14, 2010.

Education

• University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 2005.
• University of Texas, B.B.A. in Management Information Systems, Minor in Finance, 2002.

Professional Background
Prior to becoming an associate, Mr. Elwell worked as a summer associate and as a law clerk for Gjerset & Lorenz, LLP for almost two years. Mr. Elwell also worked for the University of Texas Criminal Defense Clinic, representing indigent criminal defendants, and as an Associate Editor for the Review of Litigation legal journal.