Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Excludes certain income earned from health promotion or disease prevention work from income eligibility determination under NJ FamilyCare, WFNJ, and NJ SNAP.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning income determination under the NJ FamilyCare program, the Work First New Jersey Program, and the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and supplementing Title 30 and Title 44 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services, in determining an applicant’s income eligibility, or re-determining a beneficiary’s income eligibility for the NJ FamilyCare program, shall exclude from income the first $5,000 earned during a calendar year as a community outreach worker for a health promotion or disease prevention program.
b. The Commissioner of Human Services shall apply for such State plan amendments or waivers as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act and to secure federal financial participation for State Medicaid expenditures under the federal Medicaid program.
c. As used in this section:
“Community outreach worker” means a temporary employee of a non-profit community-based organization, health care system, local health department, or other similar organization, who is paid hourly or through a stipend and draws on their experiences as a community member to serve as a liaison between those organizations and the community by engaging in outreach activities such as communicating public health and community response information, cultivating new channels to share information, and connecting people to appropriate health and social services.
“Disease prevention program” means a program that involves actions or efforts to reduce or eliminate exposure to risks that might increase the chances that an individual or a community will incur disease.
“Health promotion program” means a program that engages and empowers individuals and communities to develop behaviors that improve and maintain an individual’s health.
“Medicaid” means the Medicaid program established pursuant to P.L.1968, c.413 (C.30:4D-1 et seq.).
“NJ FamilyCare” means the NJ FamilyCare Program established pursuant to P.L.2005, c.156 (C.30:4J-8 et al.).
2. a. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, in determining an applicant’s income eligibility, or re-determining a beneficiary’s income eligibility for the Work First New Jersey Program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, shall exclude from income the first $5,000 earned during a calendar year as a community outreach worker for a health promotion or disease prevention program.
b. The Commissioner of Human Services shall apply to the Food and Nutrition Service within the United States Department of Agriculture for any necessary waivers or approvals to implement the provisions of this act.
c. As used in this section:
“Community outreach worker” means a temporary employee of a non-profit community-based organization, health care system, local health department, or other similar organization, who is paid hourly or through a stipend and draws on their experiences as a community member to serve as a liaison between those organizations and the community by engaging in outreach activities such as communicating public health and community response information, cultivating new channels to share information, and connecting people to appropriate health and social services.
“Disease prevention program” means a program that involves actions or efforts to reduce or eliminate exposure to risks that might increase the chances that an individual or community will incur disease.
“Health promotion program” means a program that engages and empowers individuals and communities to develop behaviors that improve and maintain an individual’s health.
“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” means the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program established pursuant to the federal "Food and Nutrition Act of 2008," as amended through Pub.L.110-246 (7 U.S.C. s.2011 et seq.).
“Work First New Jersey Program or WFNJ” means the program established by the Department of Human Services pursuant to P.L.1997, c. 38. (C.44:10-55 et seq.).
3. The Commissioner of Human Services, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Department of Human Services, in determining an applicant’s income eligibility, or re-determining a beneficiary’s income eligibility for the NJ FamilyCare program, the Work First New Jersey Program, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to exclude from income the first $5,000 earned during a calendar year as a community outreach worker for a health promotion or disease prevention program.
Under the bill: “community outreach worker” means a temporary employee of a non-profit community-based organization, health care system, local health department, or other similar organization, who is paid hourly or through a stipend and draws on their experiences as a community member to serve as a liaison between those organizations and the community by engaging in outreach activities such as communicating public health and community response information, cultivating new channels to share information, and connecting people to appropriate health and social services; “disease prevention program” means a program that involves actions or efforts to reduce or eliminate exposure to risks that might increase the chances that an individual or a community will incur disease; and “health promotion program” means a program that engages and empowers individuals and communities to develop behaviors that improve and maintain an individual’s health.