A1206

An Act establishing the Working Group on End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care.

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

1. There is established the Working Group on End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care in the Department of Health.

a. The working group shall include 24 members as follows:

(1) The Commissioners of Health, Human Services, and Banking and Insurance, and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman , or their designees, who shall serve ex officio; and

(2) 20 public members appointed by the Commissioner of Health who shall include: one representative each from the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Health Care Association of New Jersey, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, AARP of New Jersey, the Home Care and Hospice Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Palliative Advance Practice Nurse Consortium, the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, the NJ Sharing Network, and the ARC of New Jersey; two physicians licensed to practice in this State who have expertise in issues relating to pain management or end-of-life care, at least one of whom is an oncologist; one registered professional nurse licensed to practice in this State; one person who is employed as a patient advocate by a health care facility in this State; one person who represents a faith-based organization; and four members of the general public, two of whom have expertise or interest in the work of the working group who are not licensed health care professionals, and two of whom are family members of patients who have received palliative or end-of-life care.

b. The working group shall organize as soon as practicable following the appointment of its members, and shall select a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the working group.

c. The members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and within the limits of funds available to the working group.

d. The working group shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.

e. The Department of Health shall provide staff support to the working group.

2. a. The purpose of the working group shall be to develop a plan to:

(1) implement the legislative, administrative, and policy recommendations for State agencies, policy makers, and third party payers which are presented by the New Jersey Advisory Council on End-of-Life Care in its report to the Governor and Legislature in accordance with section 4 of P.L.2011, c.113;

(2) report on the performance goals and benchmarks developed by the New Jersey Advisory Council on End-of-Life Care, pursuant to P.L.2011, c.113, in order to measure the ability of the Department of Health or other relevant State entities to provide patient access to, and choice of, high quality, cost-effective palliative care and end-of-life care, and assist patients and their families in making informed health care decisions with regard to such care; and

(3) study and make recommendations on strategies to further improve the end-of-life care provided to the citizens of the State, including, but not limited to, identifying and evaluating evidence-based best practices and standards for advancing palliative and hospice care services for persons who are nearing the end of life , and minimizing disparities in the provision of palliative and end-of-life care services.

b. Upon completion of the plan, the working group shall report on its activities to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Assembly Health Committee, or their respective successors, and include a copy of the plan and any recommendations for legislative action it deems appropriate. The Commissioner of Health shall post the plan on the department's Internet website.

c. In the event that the plan required to be developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section is not developed within one year after the effective date of this act, the chairperson of the working group shall appear before the committee of first reference in which this act was considered in each House, or before another standing reference committee in the General Assembly as may be determined by the Speaker of the General Assembly and in the Senate as may be determined by the President of the Senate, to explain why the plan has not yet been completed and the steps the working group is taking to ensure implementation of this act. Thereafter, for such time as the plan required pursuant to subsection a. of this section remains undeveloped, the Speaker of the General Assembly shall have the authority to require the chairperson of the working group to appear before any appropriate General Assembly standing reference committee to explain why this act has not been implemented in accordance with its provisions and the steps that are being taken to ensure the implementation of this act, and the President of the Senate shall have the authority to require the chairperson of the working group to appear before any appropriate Senate standing reference committee to explain why this act has not been implemented in accordance with its provisions and the steps that are being taken to ensure the implementation of this act.

3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the completion of the plan by the working group pursuant to section 2 of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the 24-member Working Group on End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care in the Department of Health (DOH). The working group’s membership would include: the Commissioners of Health, Human Services, and Banking and Insurance, and the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or their designees, who would serve ex officio; and 20 public members appointed by the Commissioner of Health who would include one representative each from the New Jersey Hospital Association, the Health Care Association of New Jersey, the Medical Society of New Jersey, the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, AARP of New Jersey, the Home Care and Hospice Association of New Jersey, the New Jersey Palliative Advance Practice Nurse Consortium, the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, the NJ Sharing Network, and the ARC of New Jersey; two physicians licensed to practice in this State who have expertise in issues relating to pain management or end-of-life care, at least one of whom is an oncologist; one registered professional nurse licensed to practice in this State; one person who is employed as a patient advocate by a health care facility in this State; one person who represents a faith-based organization; and four members of the general public, two of whom are to have expertise or interest in the work of the working group and not be licensed health care professionals, and two of whom are to be family members of patients who have received palliative or end-of-life care services.

The purpose of the working group would be to develop a plan to: implement the legislative, administrative, and policy recommendations for State agencies, policy makers, and third party payers which are presented by the New Jersey Advisory Council on End-of-Life Care in its 2018 report to the Governor and Legislature; report on the performance goals and benchmarks developed by the New Jersey Advisory Council on End-of-Life Care to measure the ability of the DOH or other relevant State entities to provide patient access to, and choice of, high quality, cost-effective palliative care and end-of-life care, and assist patients and their families in making informed health care decisions with regard to such care; and study and make recommendations on strategies to further improve the end-of-life care provided to the citizens of the State.

The bill stipulates that upon the completion of the working group’s plan, the working group would report on its activities to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and the Assembly Health Committee, or their respective successors, and include a copy of the plan and any recommendations for legislative action the working group deems appropriate. The Commissioner of Health would also be required to post the plan on its Internet website.

In the event the plan is not established within one year, the chairperson of the working group will be required to appear before the committee of first reference in which the bill was considered in each House, or before another standing reference committee as may be determined by the Speaker of the General Assembly or the President of the Senate, as appropriate, to explain why the bill has not been implemented in accordance with its provisions, and the steps the chairperson is taking to ensure implementation. Thereafter, for such time as the plan remains undeveloped, the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Senate President will have the authority to require the chairperson to appear before any appropriate standing reference committee to explain why the bill has not been implemented and the steps that are being taken to ensure implementation.

The bill expires upon the completion of the plan by the working group.