Bill Text: NJ A1458 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires health care professionals engaged in prenatal care to provide parents of newborns with information on health insurance coverage for newborn children.*
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-07-21 - Approved P.L.2017, c.153. [A1458 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A1458-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2016 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Requires hospitals and birthing centers to provide parents of newborns with information on health insurance coverage for newborn children.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning patient notification of insurance coverage of newborns and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, shall prepare and make available to each hospital and birthing facility in the State informational literature on health insurance coverage for newborn children, which is to be provided to new mothers in accordance with subsection b. of this section. At a minimum, the information shall inform new parents of: (1) the period of time during which applicable State and federal laws require a parent's health insurance policy to provide coverage for a newborn child; and (2) how to obtain coverage for the child after that period under the parent's policy, a separate private health insurance policy, or a public health coverage plan. The commissioner may make the informational literature available to hospitals and birthing facilities by posting it on the Department of Health's Internet website or by other electronic means.
b. The Department of Health shall require each hospital and birthing facility in the State to provide new mothers, including adoptive mothers, with the informational literature specified in section a. of this section. The informational literature shall be distributed to the mother and any other adult family member, including adult adoptive family members, present at the infant's birth, by the staff designated by the hospital or birthing facility, prior to the mother's discharge, as part of the hospital or birthing facility's discharge procedures.
c. As used in this section "birthing facility" means an inpatient or ambulatory health care facility licensed by the Department of Health to provide birthing and newborn care services.
2. The Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
3. This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of
enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the
Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, may
take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be
necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill mandates that the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of Banking and Insurance, prepare and make available to hospitals and birthing centers informational literature on health insurance coverage for newborn children.
At a minimum, the information shall inform new parents of: (1) the period of time during which applicable State and federal laws require a parent's health insurance policy to provide coverage for a newborn child; and (2) how to obtain coverage for the child after that period under the parent's policy, a separate private health insurance policy, or a public health coverage plan. Under current State law, State-regulated health insurance plans must cover services to newborns for 30 days after the date of birth. An associated bill currently pending before the Legislature, Assembly Bill No, 2682, would increase this time period to 60 days.
In addition, the Department of Health would require each hospital and birthing facility in the State to provide new mothers, including adoptive mothers, with the informational literature, which would be distributed to the mother and any other family members, including adoptive family members, present at the infant's birth, by staff designated by the hospital or birthing facility, prior to the mother's discharge, as part of the hospital or birthing facility's discharge procedures.
