New Jersey-2022-S3644-Introduced

An Act concerning hospital assessments and amending P.L.1992, c.160.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 12 of P.L.1992, c.160 (C.26:2H-18.62) is amended to read as follows:

12. a. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2005, c.237).

b. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2005, c.237).

c. (1) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, each general hospital and each specialty heart hospital shall pay [.53%] 0.53 percent of its total operating revenue to the department for deposit in the Health Care Subsidy Fund , except that a specialty hospital shall be exempt from this payment if it certifies to the Department of Health and the Department of Banking and Insurance that it waives any right to bill any patient directly for health care services provided by the hospital. The hospital shall make monthly payments to the department beginning July 1, 1993. The commissioner shall determine the manner in which the payments shall be made.

For the purposes of this subsection, "total operating revenue" shall be defined by the department in accordance with financial reporting requirements established pursuant to N.J.A.C.8:31B-3.3 and shall include revenue from any ambulatory care facility that is licensed to a general hospital as an off-site ambulatory care service facility.

(2) The commissioner shall allocate the monies paid by hospitals pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection as follows:

(a) In State fiscal years 2006 and 2007, $35 million of those monies shall be allocated to the support of federally qualified health centers in this State, and the remainder shall be allocated to the support of (i) the infant mortality reduction program in the Department of Health, (ii) the primary care physician and dentist loan redemption program established in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority by article 3 of P.L.1999, c.46 (C.18A:71C-32 et seq.), and (iii) the development and use of health information electronic data interchange technology pursuant to P.L.1999, c.154 (C.17B:30-23 et al.); and

(b) In State fiscal year 2008 and thereafter, $40 million of those monies shall be allocated to the support of federally qualified health centers in this State.

Monies allocated to the support of federally qualified health centers in the State under this paragraph shall be used for the purpose of compensating them for health care services provided to uninsured patients.

d. The monies paid by the hospitals and allocated under subsection c. of this section for the support of federally qualified health centers shall be credited to the federally qualified health centers account.

e. (1) Monies paid by hospitals under subsection c. of this section in excess of $40 million, federal matching funds received on account of such monies, and interest received on such payments and funds shall be allocated exclusively to support funding to hospitals.

(2) In the event that any approval, application, or other condition necessary for the implementation of this subsection and the distribution of funds pursuant thereto consistent with the Fiscal Year 2011 annual appropriations act is not obtained, granted, or satisfied, the Departments of Health and Human Services shall jointly prepare a plan concerning charity care and related hospital funding, which shall be subject to the approval of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee.

(cf: P.L.2012, c.17, s.235)

2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to taxable years beginning on or after the January 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill would exempt a specialty heart hospital from the .53 percent total operating revenue assessment if the hospital certifies to the Department of Health and the Department of Banking and Insurance that it waives any right to bill any patient directly for health care services provided by the hospital.

The 0.53 percent assessment currently generates approximately $149 million in total revenue for the State annually, dedicated to the Health Care Subsidy Fund. This fund supports State expenditures to subsidize federally qualified health centers, charity care, NJ FamilyCare, and other health care programs.