[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1479

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 1996

By Assemblymen KAVANAUGH, FELICE, Assemblywomen Vandervalk and Murphy

An Act concerning the reporting of health care expenditures and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. The Legislature finds and declares that the public interest requires a full and complete reporting to the Governor and Legislature ¹[on a continuous basis]¹ by the Department of Health ¹and Senior Services¹ with regard to Statewide health care expenditures, based upon required annual surveys, which will ensure that State efforts to achieve health care expenditure savings are informed by the most reliable current data and trends with respect to costs and the various sources thereof in recognition of the importance of the health care industry to this State and its impact on every citizen residing in New Jersey.

    2. The Commissioner of Health ¹and Senior Services¹, in conjunction with the Commissioners of Human Services, ¹Banking and¹ Insurance, Commerce and Economic Development, and Labor, and the Health Information Electronic Data Interchange Policy ¹Advisory¹ Council established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as Senate Bill No. ¹50¹ or Assembly Bill  No. ¹1476¹ of 1996), shall present an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature on Statewide health care expenditures based upon a survey of health care facilities and providers, health insurers, ¹insurers writing automobile insurance and workers' compensation insurance,¹ business and organized labor. The Commissioner of Health ¹and Senior Services¹ may contract with an independent agency or organization to conduct the survey and prepare the report.

    The report shall include, at a minimum, the following: total health care expenditures Statewide; a breakdown of public and private expenditures and expenditures by type of health care service category, paralleling national health care expenditure categories utilized by the United States Health Care Financing Administration; a comparison of expenditures by category from the previous annual report to the current report; expenditure comparisons by category with the most recent national health care expenditure data available; identified means of achieving health care expenditure savings consistent with maintaining health care quality and access to services; and any recommendations for legislative or administrative action to effectuate these savings.

    3. The Commissioner of Health ¹and Senior Services¹ shall include in the report prepared pursuant to section 2 of this act ¹[detailed financial]¹ information about administrative cost savings achieved by acute care hospitals as a result of increased utilization of electronic data interchange technology. The commissioner shall determine the specific information to be included in the report in consultation with the Health Information Electronic Data Interchange Policy ¹Advisory¹ Council established pursuant to P.L. , c.      (C. )(pending before the Legislature as Senate Bill No. ¹50¹ or Assembly Bill No. ¹1476¹ of 1996). The commissioner shall solicit and be entitled to receive this information from each acute care hospital as part of the survey conducted pursuant to section 2 of this act.

    As used in this section, “electronic data interchange technology” means computer equipment or software which permits the electronic transmission of a business document in a standard format.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Requires Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to report annually to Governor and Legislature on health care expenditures in NJ.