Senate and Assembly Committees to Discuss Bills to Improve Long-Term Care in New Jersey

TRENTON –  The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and Assembly Aging and Senior Services Committee will jointly convene remotely on Thursday, August 13 at 10 a.m.

The panel will review eleven bills pertaining to long-term care, particularly facilities’ response to COVID-19, for discussion only. Several bills incorporate recommendations for improving conditions and response at long-term care facilities outlined in Manatt Health’s report on long-term care in New Jersey.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has taken an enormous toll on our long-term care community,” said Senator Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), chairs of the respective Senate and Assembly committees. “The Manatt report identified weaknesses in our response to the virus in long-term care facilities, and made recommendations for how we can improve our preparedness and care for residents during emergencies. Through this public hearing, we will hear directly from the people most impacted by the pandemic so we can understand the full breadth of this calamity.”

The bills for discussion include:

Ø  A-4007/S-2785 (Vainieri Huttle-McKnight-Murphy/Gopal): Requires DOH to implement and oversee Isolation Prevention Project in long-term care facilities during public emergencies.

Ø  A-4476/S-2790 (Vainieri Huttle-Greenwald/Cryan-Vitale): Establishes certain requirements concerning State’s preparedness and response to infectious disease outbreaks, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Ø  A-4477/S-2789 (Chiaravalloti-Conaway-Downey/Vitale): Revises licensure, operational, and reporting requirements for long-term care facilities.

Ø  A-4478/ S-2759 (Vainieri Huttle-Speight/Vitale): Establishes additional requirements for DOH to assess sanctions and impose penalties on long-term care facilities; revises reporting requirements for facilities.

Ø  A-4479/S-2788 (Vainieri Huttle-Greenwald-Jasey/Ruiz-Pou): Provides supplemental payments to long-term care facility staff providing direct care services during COVID-19 pandemic.

Ø  A-4480/S-2791 (Mejia-Pinkin-Pintor Marin/Singer-Pou): Requires DHS to review various aspects of Medicaid managed care program.

Ø  A-4481/S-2787 (Moen-Sumter-Quijano/Codey-Rice): Establishes New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety.

Ø  A-4482/S-2758 (Tucker-Giblin-Chaparro/Cryan): Establishes minimum wage requirements for certain long-term care facility staff; establishes direct care loss ratio requirements for nursing homes.

Ø  A-4483/S-2786 (Lopez-Carter-McKnight/Weinberg): Allows long-term care facility employees to accrue paid sick leave.

Ø  A-4485/S-2784 (Vainieri Huttle-Greenwald-Wimberly/Cryan): Dedicates personal protective equipment to long-term care facilities during public health emergency.

Ø  A-4547/S-2813 (Vainieri Huttle-/Vitale): Authorizes temporary rate adjustment for certain nursing facilities; appropriates $62.3 million.

Due to the public health emergency, the State House Annex remains closed and the hearing will be held entirely remotely. The Committee will take oral testimony on bills, by telephone and/or video, limited to three minutes. Written testimony should be submitted to OLSAideAHE@njleg.org.

Video and audio live stream of the committee is available: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp?SESSION=2020