SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3975

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 6, 2021

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 3975 (1R).

      This bill requires all infants born in the State to be tested for congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV). The testing requirement will be contingent on the development and approval by both federal and State authorities of a cCMV test and the State acquiring the equipment necessary to conduct the test as part of its existing newborn screening program.

      The bill stipulates that the Commissioner of Health may charge a reasonable fee, as determined by the commissioner, and may increase the fee as is reasonable and necessary, for the test performed pursuant to the bill.

      The bill also requires the commissioner to establish a public awareness campaign to educate pregnant persons about cytomegalovirus (CMV) and cCMV and the value of early detection of, interventions for, and possible treatments for, CMV and cCMV.  The program is required to provide information and educational materials to pregnant persons on CMV and cCMV, including, but not limited to: (1) the cause and nature of CMV and cCMV; (2) diagnostic procedures and appropriate indications for their use; (3) lifestyle issues relating to how a pregnant person can pass cCMV to a developing fetus; and (4) the availability of CMV and cCMV diagnostic and treatment services in the community.

      The commissioner is to prepare, and make available on the Department of Health’s Internet website, in English and Spanish, and in a manner that is easily understandable by a pregnant person, information about the symptoms and treatment of CMV and cCMV and any other information that the commissioner deems to be necessary.  This information may be revised by the department whenever new information about CMV and cCMV becomes available.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services concludes that there will be no fiscal impact on the State related to the screening of newborn infants for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) until the criteria set forth in the bill for the testing of infants are met.  It does not appear that the criteria will be satisfied for several years.

      Annual State costs may increase when the cCMV test is implemented, but these costs cannot be determined without knowledge of what such a test would entail.  The revenue generated by the fee charged to hospitals by the Department of Health (DOH) to perform the tests may or may not offset these additional State costs.

      To the extent that hospital fees are imposed under the bill for the performance of the cCMV test, University Hospital, an independent non-profit legal entity that is an instrumentality of the State located in Newark, will experience an indeterminate increase in annual expenditures.

      The DOH may incur marginal costs upon enactment of the bill to establish a public awareness campaign regarding the cytomegalovirus and cCMV; however, it is likely that this expense could be absorbed by the department’s existing operating budget using current staff.