SENATE, No. 43

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 1996

 

 

By Senators LITTELL and LaROSSA

 

 

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 on a continuous basis by the Department of Health 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, in conjunction with the Commissioners of Human Services, Insurance, Commerce and Economic Development, and Labor, and the Health Information Electronic Data Interchange Policy Council established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. )(pending before the Legislature as Senate Bill No. or Assembly Bill No. 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, business and organized labor. The Commissioner of Health 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 shall include in the report prepared pursuant to section 2 of this act detailed financial 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 Council established pursuant to P.L. , c.      (C. )(pending before the Legislature as Senate Bill No. or Assembly Bill No. 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.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill requires the Commissioner of Health, in conjunction with the Commissioners of Human Services, Insurance, Commerce and Economic Development, and Labor, and the Health Information Electronic Data Interchange Policy Council in the Department of Health (which would be established under Senate Bill No. or Assembly Bill No. of 1996, currently pending before the Legislature), to 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, business and organized labor.

     The bill further requires the Commissioner of Health to include in the annual report detailed financial information about administrative cost savings achieved by acute care hospitals as a result of increased utilization of electronic data interchange technology. The commissioner is to determine the specific information to be included in the report in consultation with the Health Information Electronic Data Interchange Policy Council. The commissioner shall solicit and be entitled to receive this information from each acute care hospital as part of the survey conducted for the report.

    This bill is part of a legislative package designed to effectuate the recommendations of the Healthcare Information Networks and Technologies (HINT) report to the Legislature under the joint auspices of Thomas Edison State College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The bill is intended to ensure a regular and formal follow-up by State government to the Statewide health care automation and cost survey conducted for the HINT report which will enable State policymakers to be apprised of the latest developments with respect to Statewide health care expenditures and possible means to achieve cost savings.

 

 

                             

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