ASSEMBLY, No. 1971

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblyman  REGINALD W. ATKINS

District 20 (Union)

SYNOPSIS

     Requires long-term care facilities to annually review residents’ proxy directives.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act concerning long-term care facilities and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statues.

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

     1.    a.  As used in this section:

     "Long-term care facility" means a nursing home, assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, residential health care facility, or dementia care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).

     "Proxy directive" means a written document, executed in accordance with applicable law, which designates an adult with decision-making capacity to act as the declarant’s representative in the event that the declarant is determined by a court or authorized practitioner to lack decision-making capacity following the execution of the written document.

     b.    A long-term care facility shall meet with each resident at least once annually to determine whether the resident’s proxy directive, if any, is accurate and current. 

     c.     Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require a long-term care facility resident to execute or maintain a proxy directive.

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

     This bill requires long-term care facilities to annually review residents’ proxy directives.  A "proxy directive" is defined to mean a written document, executed in accordance with applicable law, that designates an adult with decision-making capacity to act as the declarant’s representative in the event that the declarant is determined by a court or authorized practitioner to lack decision-making capacity following the execution of the document.

     Under the bill, a long-term care facility will be required to meet with each resident at least once annually to determine whether the resident’s proxy directive, if any, is accurate and current.  Nothing in the bill’s provisions would be deemed to require a resident to have a proxy directive.