ASSEMBLY, No. 1810

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  ERIK PETERSON

District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires DOH to issue license to provide elective angioplasty services to certain qualifying hospitals located in counties of the third class.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

  


An Act concerning licensure of angioplasty facilities and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

     1.    A general hospital may apply to the Commissioner of Health for a license to provide elective angioplasty services in the State.   The commissioner shall issue a license to any applicant that:

     a.     is located in a county of the third class having a population of not less than 50,000 but not more than 200,000, except such counties bordering on the Atlantic ocean;

     b.    is not currently licensed as a cardiac surgery facility;

     c.     demonstrates the ability to offer a high quality program for the provision of elective angioplasty services;

     d.    demonstrates the ability to provide patient selection from among a community that is representative of the State’s diverse regions and populations;

     e.     demonstrates the ability to increase access to care for the medically underserved; and

     f.     meets such other requirements as the commissioner may establish by regulation.

 

     2.    The Commissioner of Health shall adopt such rules and regulations, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as the commissioner deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

     3.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill permits general hospitals to apply to the Commissioner of Health for a license to provide elective angioplasty services in the State.  The commissioner will be required to issue a license to any applicant that: is located in a county of the third class having a population of not less than 50,000 but not more than 200,000, except such counties bordering on the Atlantic ocean; is not currently licensed as a cardiac surgery facility; demonstrates the ability to offer a high quality program for the provision of elective angioplasty services; demonstrates the ability to provide patient selection from among a community that is representative of the State’s diverse regions and populations; demonstrates the ability to increase access to care for the medically underserved; and meets any other requirements the commissioner establishes by regulation.

     Angioplasty is a procedure used to widen clogged arteries and help remove blockages, restoring blood flow and potentially reducing the risk of an adverse cardiac event.  In 2012, the Cardiovascular Patient Outcomes Research Team Elective Angioplasty Study (C-PORT-E) concluded that there is no increased risk of death or complications from an elective angioplasty conducted at a facility that does not have cardiac surgery capabilities as compared with a licensed cardiac surgery facility.  Although elective angioplasties may currently be performed at any of the 11 facilities that participated in the C-PORT-E study, as well as at any of the 18 licensed cardiac surgery centers located in the State, there are currently seven counties that do not have any facilities licensed to perform elective angioplasties, and an additional six counties that contain only one authorized facility.

     This bill would require qualifying facilities located in Cumberland, Hunterdon, Salem, Sussex, and Warren Counties be licensed to perform elective angioplasties.  It is the sponsor’s belief that licensing additional elective angioplasty facilities will help improve access to quality cardiac care for the citizens of New Jersey.