Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights Recent Health Care-Related Laws
Two newspapers recently reported on new health care-related laws created in New Jersey. Summaries of the articles appear below.
- Hospitals: Gov. Jon Corzine (D) on Friday signed legislation that creates an early warning system to help identify hospitals having difficulty maintaining solvency, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Four acute care hospitals in the state have closed this year because of financial problems. The new law gives the state Department of Health and Senior Services the authority required to access hospitals' financial information to monitor their solvency. State Sen. Robert Gordon (D) said the law will allow the department to "have an early warning when a hospital becomes fiscally unstable and will be able to intervene before the fiscal instability gives way to fiscal insolvency, and yet another health care facility in the Garden State has to close its doors forever" (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/10).
- Uninsured: Corzine also signed a bill that prohibits hospitals from charging uninsured patients more than 15% above what Medicare would pay for their treatment, the Bergen Record reports. According to the Record, Medicare pays about 25% to 30% of what hospitals normally charge. Corzine in a statement said that the law "will ensure that working poor families without health insurance are not overcharged for needed hospital care." Uninsured patients often are charged the highest rates because they are not able to take advantage of discounts negotiated by large insurers (Washburn, Bergen Record, 8/8).
