Bill Text: NJ S2693 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Establishes interagency council on menopause in DOH and requires certain lincensed health care professionals to distribute menopause informational pamphlets under certain circumstances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-09 - Reported from Senate Committee as a Substitute, 2nd Reading [S2693 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2693-Comm_Sub.html
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE, No. 2693
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
ADOPTED DECEMBER 9, 2024
Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Singleton
SYNOPSIS
Establishes interagency council on menopause in DOH and requires certain licensed health care professionals to distribute menopause informational pamphlets under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Substitute as adopted by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.
An Act concerning menopause 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. There is established an Interagency Council on Menopause in the Department of Health to promote and support access to best practice health care for a person through the person's menopause transition and post-reproductive years, enabling the person to achieve optimal health and well-being.
b. The interagency council shall consist of 15 members as follows:
(1) the Director of the Office of Women's Health in the Department of Health, the Assistant Commissioner of Family Health Services in the Department of Health, and the Director of the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio; and
(2) 12 public members to be appointed by the Governor, who shall include: a person with perimenopause, a person with menopause, a public health educator, an expert in perimenopause and menopause treatment and research, a representative of a women's health organization, an epidemiologist, a gynecologist licensed to practice in this State who is a menopause specialist, a general practitioner licensed to practice in this State with expertise in treating persons experiencing perimenopause or menopause, a geriatrician licensed to practice in this State, a registered professional nurse licensed to practice in this State, a nutritionist who has experience in providing services to persons with perimenopause or menopause, and a representative of a women's health advocacy organization.
c. Vacancies in the membership of the interagency council shall be filled in the same manner as provided for the original appointments. The public members of the council shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for travel and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform their duties within the limits of funds made available to the council for its purposes.
d. The interagency council shall organize as soon as practicable but no later than 60 days following the appointment of its members and shall select a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the council.
e. The interagency council may meet at the call of its chair and hold hearings at the times and in the places it deems appropriate and necessary to fulfill its charge. The council shall be entitled to call to its assistance, and avail itself of the services of the employees of, any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.
f. The interagency council may seek the advice of experts, such as persons specializing in the field of women's health, public health, psychology, or other related fields, as deemed appropriate by the membership of the council.
g. The Department of Health shall provide staff services to the interagency council.
2. The purpose of the interagency council shall be to:
a. promote the health and quality of a person's life during midlife and beyond through an understanding of perimenopause, menopause, and healthy aging;
b. disseminate evidence-based knowledge concerning perimenopause and menopause to health care professionals through multi-lingual and multi-cultural educational resources, programs, and events;
c. support and promote research into all aspects of perimenopause, menopause, and post-reproductive health;
d. facilitate collaboration and information-exchange between health care professionals, medical societies, governmental agencies, research institutions, community-based organizations, and other organizations or entities with shared interests and goals relating to the study of, and treating persons experiencing, perimenopause or menopause;
e. encourage the multi-disciplinary delivery of health care from menopause transition to a person's post-reproductive years;
f. develop and provide State-supported evidence-based treatment services related to perimenopause, menopause, and post-reproductive health;
g. increase awareness and understanding of perimenopause and menopause through the provision of multi-lingual, culturally sensitive health information to health care professionals and policy makers;
h. develop and establish a plan to disseminate information, through television, radio, Internet, print media, social media, and other forms of communication about new treatment options, research findings, and ways in which a person experiencing perimenopause or menopause can access services in the State; and
i. make policy recommendations to the Legislature on the quality of, and access to, treatment and services for persons experiencing perimenopause or menopause.
3. The Commissioner of Health shall report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, no later than 18 months after the effective date of this act, and annually thereafter, on the activities and accomplishments of the interagency council and its findings and recommendations on issues relating to the quality of, and access to, treatment and services for persons experiencing perimenopause or menopause in this State.
4. a. Commencing 180 days following the effective date of this act, a licensed health care professional:
(1) who performs an annual physical examination on a female patient who is between the ages of 35 and 39 shall provide the female patient evidence-based information on premature menopause, early menopause, and primary ovarian insufficiency, as prepared and published by the Department of Health pursuant to subsection b. of this section or by another recognized healthcare entity or organization that provides evidence-based information on this subject; and
(2) who performs an annual physical examination on a female patient who is 40 years of age or older shall provide the female patient evidence-based information on perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause, as prepared and published by the Department of Health pursuant to subsection b. of this section or by another recognized healthcare entity or organization that provides evidence-based information on this subject.
b. Within 90 days following the effective date of this act, the Department of Health shall prepare and publish on its Internet website the necessary pamphlets containing information on menopause in order to effectuate the purposes of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
