ASSEMBLY AGING AND SENIOR SERVICES COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 4481

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  AUGUST 21, 2020

      The Assembly Aging and Senior Services Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4481.

     As amended by the committee, this bill establishes the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety, which will be tasked with developing recommendations to make changes to the long-term system of care to drive improvements in person-centered care, resident and staff safety, improvements in quality of care and services, workforce engagement and sustainability, and any other appropriate aspects of the long-term system of care in New Jersey as the task force elects to review. 

      Specifically, the task force is to focus on:  1) expanding home and community-based services and recommending strategies to improve the balance between facility-based services and home and community-based services and supports; 2) nursing home reforms, including implementing new care models, optimizing nursing home size and configurations to foster resident wellness and infection control, increasing clinical presence in nursing homes, and identifying appropriate nursing home staffing levels for certain resident acuity and special population needs; 3) maintaining the objectivity of the nursing home survey inspections and the cited deficiency appeals process; 4) identifying the capital investments needed to support physical plant, technology, and workforce development initiatives in nursing homes; and 5) broader reforms to the long-term system of care, including developing technology requirements to enable enhanced use of telemedicine and telehealth, instituting workforce engagement and advancement models including career laddering options and structures, increasing the use of Medicaid managed care to drive improvements in quality and oversight of nursing homes, and establishing acuity adjustments for Medicaid managed care payments to nursing homes.

     The task force will comprise 27 members, including the Commissioner of Health, the Commissioner of Human Services, the Commissioner of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, and the New Jersey Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or their designees, who will serve ex officio, and 23 public members representing the long-term care industry and consumers of long-term care, with seven members to be appointed by the Governor, and eight members each to be appointed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the General Assembly.  Two members appointed by the Governor and two members appointed by the Senate President would need to come from urban communities.   

     The members of the task force are to be appointed, and the task force is to organize, no later than 45 days after the effective date of the bill.  No later than one year after its organization, the task force will be required to prepare and submit a report to the Governor and to the Legislature concerning its recommendations.  The task force will dissolve, and the bill will expire, 30 days following the date on which the task force submits its report.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to revise the number and type of members to be appointed by the Governor, Senate President, and Speaker of the General Assembly, expand the task force’s total membership to 27, and revise the duties and functions of the task force.  The amendments also require two task force members appointed by the Governor and two members appointed by the Senate President to be members from urban communities.