Bill Text: NJ S1149 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: "New Jersey Long-Term Care Oversight Act."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-30 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S1149 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S1149-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
"New Jersey Long-Term Care Oversight Act."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act creating a Joint Committee on Long-Term Care Oversight and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New Jersey Long-Term Care Oversight Act."
2. It shall be the public policy of New Jersey that:
a. the long-term care system in this State be predicated upon a recognition that aging is not a disease, but rather a natural process that often includes increasing needs for assistance with daily living activities, and, to the maximum extent possible and appropriate, the long-term care system be based on a model of care delivery that acknowledges that services delivered in home and community-based settings are not primarily medical in nature, but are support services that will provide needed assistance with activities of daily living and allow persons to "age in place" in their homes and communities;
b. the long-term care system also recognize that persons who are elderly or have physical disabilities are more likely to have chronic health care conditions and need preventive, acute, and chronic health care services in order to promote healthy living and improved quality of life, and the system be designed to focus on the needs of the "whole person," with coordination of care across the care continuum to ensure that the individual's medical, behavioral, and non-medical long-term care support needs are met;
c. the long-term care system promote independence, choice, dignity, and quality of life for persons who are elderly or have physical disabilities and who need long-term care supports and services and include consumer-directed options that offer more choices regarding the kinds of long-term care services that people need and prefer, where they are provided, and who will deliver them, with appropriate mechanisms to ensure accountability for the expenditure of public funds;
d. the long-term care system be designed to reduce fragmentation and offer a seamless approach to meeting people's needs, including one-stop shopping for information, counseling, and assistance regarding long-term care programs, in order to support informed decision making, simplified eligibility processes, and one-stop shopping for the various services that a person may need;
e. the long-term care system recognize and value the critical role of the family and other caregivers in meeting the needs of people who are elderly or have physical disabilities and offer services such as caregiver assessments and training, adult daycare, and respite care that "wrap around" the natural support network in order to keep it in place, thereby delaying or preventing the need for more expensive, institutional care;
f. the long-term care system deliver needed supports and services in the most integrated setting that is appropriate and cost-effective in order to utilize available funding to serve as many people as possible in home and community-based settings;
g. as envisioned in the "Independence, Dignity and Choice in Long-Term Care Act," P.L.2006, c.23 (C.30:4D-17.23 et seq.), the long-term care system utilize a global budget for all long-term care services for persons who are elderly or have physical disabilities that allows funding to follow the person into the most appropriate and cost-effective long-term care setting of their choice, resulting in a more equitable balance between the proportion of Medicaid long-term care expenditures for institutional services and expenditures for home and community-based services and supports;
h. the long-term care system offer a continuum of services that provides for an expanded array of home and community-based options, including community-based residential alternatives to institutional care, and also includes nursing home care as an integral part of the long-term care continuum for persons with higher levels of need; and
i. the long-term care system include a comprehensive quality approach across the entire continuum of services and settings that promotes continuous quality improvement, and quality improvement programs objectively and systematically monitor and evaluate the quality and appropriateness of care, determine ways to improve care, resolve identified problems, and base staffing on residents' and clients' care needs.
3. a. There is hereby created a committee to be known as the "Joint Committee on Long-Term Care Oversight."
b. The joint committee shall consist of five members of the Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate and five members of the General Assembly, to be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly. No more than three of the members from each House shall be of the same political party. All members shall serve without compensation, and vacancies in the membership of the joint committee shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made.
c. The joint committee shall select a chairperson and vice chairperson from among its members and a secretary who need not be a member of the joint committee.
4. a. The joint committee is authorized, empowered, and directed to review and study any matter related to the provision of long-term care services that it considers of significance to the citizens of this State, including, but not limited to: the availability and quality of both home and community-based care and institutional care; the effectiveness and efficiency of managed care systems and State contracts with risk-based contractors and Medicaid managed care organizations; the operation of Medicaid managed care organizations; and the provision of long-term care services under the Medicaid program established pursuant to P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-1 et seq.), including any waivers sought by the State with respect to the provision of those services.
b. Any proposed expenditure of funds by a State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency to implement new, or expand existing, long-term care programs, and any administrative or management changes to long-term care programs requiring additional expenditures, shall be filed in writing with, and may be reviewed by, the joint committee. Upon completion of its review, the joint committee may submit written comments to the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency on the proposed expenditures, provided that those comments are submitted within 30 days after receipt by the committee of the proposal for expenditures. If the proposed expenditures are made before the committee has submitted its comments, if any, or if expenditures are made that are inconsistent with the comments submitted by the committee, the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency shall provide the committee and each member of the Senate and General Assembly with a written explanation of the reasons for making those expenditures.
c. (1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Commissioner of Human Services shall file any proposed federal Medicaid waiver or waiver amendment and any proposed contract or contract amendment involving risk-based contractors or Medicaid managed care organizations in writing with the committee at least 30 days before the proposal is filed or submitted to the federal government or entered into with a contractor. The committee shall have the authority to review the proposal and, upon completion of its review, to submit written comments on the proposal to the commissioner.
(2) The Commissioner of Human Services shall file any request for a new Medicaid waiver, waiver amendment, or waiver renewal to the federal Department of Health and Human Services in writing with the committee at least 30 days prior to its submission to the Department of Health and Human Services. The waiver, amendment, or renewal request shall not be submitted or take effect unless the committee has been afforded the opportunity to submit written comments to the commissioner, provided that those comments shall be submitted within 30 days after receipt by the committee of the waiver, amendment, or renewal request.
d. Any proposed rules for implementing any provision of law relating to the provision of long-term care services, except for emergency rules, shall be filed in writing with the committee by the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency at least 30 days before it is filed or goes into effect. No such rules may be submitted or take effect unless the committee has been afforded the opportunity to review and submit written comments on the proposed rules to the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency, which shall provide the committee with a written explanation of the outcome of its consideration of those comments.
e. The committee shall have the authority to review and provide written comments to the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency on any other issue that the joint committee deems relevant for its purposes with respect to programmatic staffing, management, operations, or funding.
5. a. The staff of the joint committee shall:
(1) review all bills introduced in both Houses during each legislative session in order to identify those bills that will clearly have a significant impact upon the long-term care system in New Jersey;
(2) prepare a list of those bills so identified; and
(3) transmit a statement to the sponsor and the chairman of the standing reference committee, if any, to which a bill on the list was referred, or to the presiding officer of the House in which the bill originated if no such reference was made, indicating that the bill is appropriate for review by the joint committee because of its anticipated impact on the long-term care system in the State.
b. (1) The joint committee shall review each bill identified pursuant to subsection a. of this section and, through the chairperson of the joint committee, shall send written notification to the chairperson of the appropriate standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the appropriate House, as applicable, no later than one month after the date that the bill was given first reading in the appropriate House, indicating that the review process has occurred and that the bill is ready for consideration by the standing reference committee or by the House, as applicable.
(2) If the joint committee has prepared committee comments on the bill, those comments shall be attached to the notification to the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House.
(3) If the joint committee has reviewed the bill but has not prepared committee comments, that fact shall be indicated in the notification to the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House.
(4) If the bill has not been reviewed by the joint committee within the time period specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the chairperson of the joint committee shall notify the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House, as applicable, that the bill has not been reviewed but is ready for consideration by the standing reference committee or by the House, as appropriate.
c. The joint committee shall make no recommendation concerning enactment of a bill that it reviews nor shall it have the authority to prevent consideration of the bill by the standing reference committee to which the bill has been referred or by the House in which the bill originated.
6. The joint committee shall be entitled to:
a. call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of the Legislative Services Commission, as well as assistance from any other State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, including the receipt of such reports and information from any department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as the joint committee may deem necessary for its purposes; and
b. employ such professional, stenographic, and clerical assistants and incur such traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem necessary, in order to perform its duties, and as may be within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for those purposes.
7. The joint committee:
a. may meet and hold hearings at such place or places as it shall designate during the sessions or recesses of the Legislature, but shall meet at least quarterly; and
b. shall make an annual report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and may make such other reports or recommendations as it deems appropriate for its purposes.
8. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on January 12, 2016.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the Joint Committee on Long-Term Care Oversight (committee) to provide oversight of long-term care services in New Jersey for a period of time to conclude with the end of the 2014-2015 legislative session.
The bill provides specifically as follows:
· The joint committee is to consist of five members each from the Senate and General Assembly, to be appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly, respectively. No more than three of the members from each House are to be of the same political party. All members are to serve without compensation, and vacancies in the membership of the joint committee are to be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. The joint committee is to select a chairperson and vice chairperson from among its members and a secretary who need not be a member of the joint committee.
· The joint committee is authorized, empowered, and directed to review and study any matter related to the provision of long-term care services that it considers of significance to the citizens of this State, including, but not limited to: the availability and quality of both home and community-based care and institutional care; the effectiveness and efficiency of managed care systems and State contracts with risk-based contractors and Medicaid managed care organizations; the operation of Medicaid managed care organizations; and the provision of long-term care services under the Medicaid program, including any waivers sought by the State with respect to the provision of those services.
· The joint committee is entitled to review and provide written comments to the relevant State department, board, bureau, commission, or agency on: any proposed expenditure or proposal for new or expanded State long-term care programs; any proposed federal waiver, waiver amendment, or waiver renewal and any proposed contracts and amendments to contracts involving a risk-based contractor or a Medicaid managed care organization; any proposed rules for implementing any provision of law relating to the provision of long-term care services; and any other issue that the joint committee deems relevant for its purposes with respect to programmatic staffing, management, operations, or funding.
· The staff of the joint committee is directed to: review all bills introduced in both Houses during each legislative session in order to identify those bills that will clearly have a significant impact upon the long-term care system in New Jersey; prepare a list of the identified bills; and transmit a statement to the sponsor and the chairman of the committee, if any, to which a bill on the list was referred, or to the presiding officer of the House in which the bill originated if no such reference was made, indicating that the bill is appropriate for review by the joint committee because of its anticipated impact on the long-term care system in the State.
· The joint committee is to review each bill identified by its staff pursuant to the bill and, through the chairperson of the joint committee, send written notification to the chairperson of the appropriate standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the appropriate House, as applicable, no later than one month after the date that the bill was given first reading in the appropriate House, indicating that the review process has occurred and that the bill is ready for consideration by the standing reference committee or by the House, as applicable: (1) If the joint committee has prepared committee comments on the bill, those comments are to be attached to the notification to the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House; (2) if the joint committee has reviewed the bill but has not prepared committee comments, that fact is to be indicated in the notification to the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House; and (3) if the bill has not been reviewed by the joint committee within the time period specified in the bill, the chairperson of the joint committee is to notify the chairperson of the standing reference committee or the presiding officer of the House, as applicable, that the bill has not been reviewed but is ready for consideration by the standing reference committee or by the House, as appropriate.
· The joint committee is to make no recommendation concerning enactment of a bill that it reviews and will not have the authority to prevent consideration of the bill by the standing reference committee to which the bill has been referred or by the House in which the bill originated.
· The joint committee is entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of the Legislative Services Commission, as well assistance from any other State, county, or municipal agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, and to employ such professional, stenographic, and clerical assistants and incur such traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem necessary, in order to perform its duties, and as may be within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for those purposes.
· The joint committee may meet and hold hearings at such place or places as it designates, but is to meet at least quarterly, and will make an annual report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature, as well as other reports or recommendations as it deems appropriate.
· The committee will cease to operate on January 12, 2016.
