SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3252

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  December 15, 2020

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3252, with committee amendments.

      As amended, the bill clarifies that the County Option Hospital Fee Pilot Program is to expire five years after each participating county has collected a local health care-related fee, which is authorized to be imposed under existing law.  Currently, participating counties cannot collect this fee until the State receives any necessary federal approvals to implement the provisions of the existing law and to secure federal financial participation for related State Medicaid expenditures.  The uncertainty of these approvals may result in the pilot expiring before the provisions of the law have been implemented.  As such, this bill provides that upon the collection of the fee by each participating county, the pilot program will have five years in which to fully operate.

      The amended bill also provides that a participating county is not to be liable for any amount of a local health care-related fee imposed on a hospital pursuant to the existing law that the hospital fails to pay or does not pay in a timely manner to the assessing county.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments provide that a participating county is not to be liable for any amount of a local health care-related fee imposed on a hospital pursuant to the existing law that the hospital fails to pay or does not pay in a timely manner to the assessing county.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information is currently unavailable for this bill.