Bill Text: NJ A4482 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes Statewide tele-psychiatry program within DHS; appropriates $4 million.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-02-24 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee [A4482 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A4482-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman KENYATTA STEWART
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes Statewide tele-psychiatry program within DHS; appropriates $4 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a Statewide tele-psychiatry program, supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Consultant site" means the hospital or other site at which the consulting provider is physically located at the time the consulting provider delivers the mental health or substance abuse care by means of tele-psychiatry.
"Consulting provider" means a physician, or other health care provider, licensed in this State to provide mental health or substance abuse care.
"Referring site" means the hospital at which the patient is physically located at the time of receiving mental health or substance abuse care by means of tele-psychiatry.
"Tele-psychiatry" means the delivery of mental health or substance abuse care, including diagnosis or treatment, by means of two-way real-time interactive audio or video by a consulting provider at a consultant site to an individual patient at a referring site. The term does not include the standard use of telephones, facsimile transmissions, unsecured electronic mail, or a combination of these in the course of care.
2. a. There is established within the Department of Human Services a Statewide tele-psychiatry program. The program shall allow referring sites to utilize consulting providers at a consultant site to provide timely psychiatric assessment and rapid initiation of treatment for patients at the referring site experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
b. The department shall contract with an appropriate partner identified pursuant to section 4 of this act to facilitate administration of the tele-psychiatry program. The contract shall include a provision requiring the implementation of the tele-psychiatry program on a Statewide basis by no later than three calendar years after the effective date of this act.
c. The department shall:
(1) provide ongoing oversight and monitoring of the program;
(2) provide ongoing monitoring of the performance of, and conduct annual site visits to, the partner organization contracted with the department to administer the program, including but not limited to, a review of the number of consultant and referring sites participating in the program, and the number of psychiatric assessments conducted under the program, aggregated by site or region, number of involuntary commitments recommended as a result of psychiatric assessments conducted by consulting providers under the program;
(3) facilitate program linkages with critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals;
(4) conduct visits to referring sites and consultant sites to monitor implementation of the program, and upon implementation, conduct site visits at least once annually;
(5) address barriers and concerns identified by consulting providers, consultant sites, and referring sites participating in the program;
(6) encourage participation in the program by all potential consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the State and promote continued participation in the program by consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the State;
(7) compile a list of recommendations for future telehealth initiatives, based on the operation of the Statewide program;
(8) review, on a quarterly basis, the program-related financial statements of the partner contracted to administer the program to compare and monitor projected and actual program costs; and
(9) annually submit, pursuant to section 3 of this act, a report to the Governor and to the Legislature on the operation and effectiveness of the program.
3. Beginning one calendar year after the establishment of the tele-psychiatry program established pursuant to section 2 of this act and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Human Services shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature a report detailing the:
a. Number of consultant and referring sites participating in the program;
b. Number of psychiatric assessments conducted under the program;
c. Average length of stay of patients receiving tele-psychiatry services, disaggregated by site or region;
d. Number of involuntary commitments recommended prior to implementation of the program compared with the number of involuntary commitments recommended after a psychiatric assessment conducted under the program, disaggregated by year and site or region; and
e. Any other information deemed relevant by the commissioner.
4. No later than nine months after the effective date of this act, the Department of Human Services, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall submit a plan for the implementation of a Statewide tele-psychiatry program to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the Assembly Health Committee, and the Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee. The plan shall include:
a. Specific steps to be taken by the department, within a specified time frame, to establish and administer the program on a Statewide basis;
b. Anticipated program costs and reimbursement rates for tele-psychiatry services;
c. Recommendations for addressing liability issues related to providing tele-psychiatry services;
d. The processes and factors to consider to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the program once implemented; and
e. A list of potential partners that could contract with the department to administer the program.
5. a. The Commissioner of Human Services and the Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.
b. The rules shall, at minimum, specify:
(1) requirements to ensure the health and safety of patients;
(2) participation and equipment requirements for consultant sites, consultant providers, and referral sites; and
(3) rates of payment for tele-psychiatry services.
6. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services $4,000,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.
7. This act shall take effect immediately except that section 2 of this act shall take effect one calendar year next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a tele-psychiatry program within the Department of Human Services (DHS). Modeled after the tele-psychiatry program in North Carolina, this bill requires the Department of Human Services to establish the program Statewide within three years of the act's enactment. The bill allows DHS one year to submit a plan for the implementation of the program and allows the department an additional two years to implement the program Statewide.
The bill requires DHS to contract with a partner organization to implement the program. The bill would allow certain health care providers to provide mental health and substance abuse to a patient via tele-psychiatry. The department would provide ongoing monitoring and oversight of the program and of the partner selected to help with the implementation of the program. Additionally, the department would:
� facilitate program linkages with critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals;
� conduct visits to referring sites and consultant sites to monitor implementation of the program, and upon implementation, conduct site visits at least once annually;
� address barriers and concerns identified by consulting providers, consultant sites, and referring sites participating in the program;
� encourage participation in the program by all potential consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the State and promote continued participation in the program by consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the State;
� compile a list of recommendations for future tele-health initiatives, based on the operation of the Statewide program;
� review, on a quarterly basis, the program-related financial statements of the partner contracted to administer the program to compare and monitor projected and actual program costs; and
� annually submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on the operation and effectiveness of the program.
The bill appropriates from $4 million to the Department of Human Services to effectuate the purposes of the act.
