Bill Text: NJ S242 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Imposes two-year moratorium on certain new outpatient radiation oncology services and establishes Outpatient Radiation Oncology Services Task Force in DHSS.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S242 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S242-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT M. GORDON
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator LORETTA WEINBERG
District 37 (Bergen)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Beck
SYNOPSIS
Imposes two-year moratorium on certain new outpatient radiation oncology services and establishes Outpatient Radiation Oncology Services Task Force in DHSS.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning certain radiation oncology services.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Beginning on the effective date of this act, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall impose a two-year moratorium on the licensing and registration of any new health care service that provides radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol in which a physician who is not qualified under N.J.A.C.8:43A-30.3 as a radiation oncologist, his immediate family, or such a physician in combination with his immediate family, has a significant beneficial interest.
The moratorium shall not apply to a health care service that provides radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol through an on- or off-site hospital-based facility.
As used in this act: "health care service," "immediate family," and "significant beneficial interest" shall have the same meaning as provided in section 1 of P.L.1989, c.19 (C.45:9-22.4); and "new health care service" shall refer to an entity which seeks to establish a health care service that provides radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol but which, before the effective date of this act: has not been approved by a local zoning board and has not submitted its plans to the Health Plan Review Program of the Department of Community Affairs; or has not submitted an application for licensure or registration to the Department of Health and Senior Services, as applicable.
2. a. There is established an Outpatient Radiation Oncology Services Task Force in the Department of Health and Senior Services. The purpose of the task force is to review the economic impact on hospitals, and any effects of practice patterns on patients, of a non radiation oncologist referring his patients to a health care service that provides radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol in which the non radiation oncologist, his immediate family, or a non-radiation oncologist in combination with his immediate family, has a significant beneficial interest.
b. The task force shall consider developments that have occurred since the enactment of P.L.1989, c.19 (C.45:9-22.4 et seq.), as follows:
(1) how and where outpatient health care services that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol are delivered;
(2) the economic impact that outpatient health care services that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol performed in non-hospital settings have on hospitals;
(3) whether physician practice patterns are affected and any resulting economic impact to the State of New Jersey and other payers of health care services;
(4) the patient safety, staffing, and quality standards of health care services that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol in non-hospital settings; and
(5) whether further requirements concerning non radiation oncologist physician referrals to services in which they have a significant beneficial interest are necessary.
c. The task force shall be comprised of nine members as follows:
(1) the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, the Executive Director of the Office for Cancer Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Senior Services, and the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio; and
(2) six public members as follows: two physicians who are licensed by the State Board of Medical Examiners, one of whom is a radiation oncologist who shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and one of whom is not a radiation oncologist who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; one medical radiation physicist appointed by the President of the Senate; two representatives of general hospitals in the State that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol, one of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and one of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and one representative of health insurance carriers, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
d. Vacancies in the membership of the task force shall be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments. The public members of the task force shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed for traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform their duties, within the limits of funds made available to the task force for its purposes.
e. The task force shall organize as soon as practicable, but no later than the 60th day after 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 task force. The task force may meet at the call of its chair and hold hearings at the times and in the places it may deem appropriate and necessary to fulfill its charge.
f. The task force 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 for its purposes.
g. The Department of Health and Senior Services shall provide staff services to the task force.
h. The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), 12 months after the effective date of this act.
i. The task force shall expire upon issuance of the report.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill imposes a two-year moratorium on the licensing and registration by the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) of any new health care service that provides radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol when a physician who is not qualified as a radiation oncologist, his immediate family, or such a physician in combination with his immediate family, has a significant beneficial interest. The bill also establishes an Outpatient Radiation Oncology Services Task Force in DHSS.
The moratorium would not apply if the radiation therapy is provided through an on- or off-site hospital-based facility. A "new" health care service is one in which the entity seeking to establish a health care service has not been approved by a local zoning board and has not submitted its plans to the Health Plan Review Program of the Department of Community Affairs, or has not submitted its application for licensure or registration to DHSS, as applicable, before the effective date of the bill.
The task force is established in DHSS. Its purpose is to review the economic impact on hospitals and any effects of practice patterns on patients of referrals by physicians who are not radiation oncologists to health care services that provide radiation therapy in which the referring physicians, their immediate families, or such physicians in combination with their immediate families, have a financial interest. The task force is charged with considering developments that have occurred since the enactment of P.L.1989, c.19, which concerns physician self-referrals, as follows:
· how and where outpatient services that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol are delivered;
· the economic impact that such services provided in non-hospital settings have on hospitals;
· whether physician practice patterns are affected and any resulting economic impact to the State and other payers;
· the patient safety, staffing, and quality standards of such services in non-hospital settings; and
· whether it is necessary to impose further requirements concerning referrals by physicians who are not radiation oncologists to services in which they have a financial interest.
The task force is comprised of nine members as follows:
· the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, the Executive Director of the Office for Cancer Control and Prevention, and the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio; and
six public members as follows:
· two physicians licensed by the State Board of Medical Examiners, one of whom is a radiation oncologist to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and one of whom is not a radiation oncologist, to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly;
· one medical radiation physicist appointed by the President of the Senate;
· two representatives of general hospitals in the State that provide radiation therapy pursuant to an oncological protocol, one appointed by the President of the Senate and one appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and
· one representative of health insurance carriers, appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
The task force is to organize no later than the 60th day after the appointment of its members, report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature 12 months after the effective date of the bill, and expire upon issuance of its report.
