ASSEMBLY HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4935

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 22, 2019

      The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 4935.

     This bill prohibits the health benefits coverage of certain non-medically indicated early elective deliveries under the Medicaid Program, the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP).  Specifically, this bill prohibits health benefits contracts which are issued or purchased pursuant to the SHBP, SEHBP, and the Medicaid Program, as well as services purchased under the fee-for-service delivery system within the Medicaid Program, from providing health benefits coverage or reimbursing a provider for a non-medically indicated early elective delivery performed at a hospital on a pregnant woman earlier than the 39^th week of gestation.

     As used in the bill, “non-medically indicated early elective delivery” means the artificial start of the birth process through medical interventions or other methods, also known as labor induction, or the surgical delivery of a baby via a cesarean section for purposes or reasons that are not fully consistent with established standards of clinical care as provided by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).