Bill > S2503

Introduced Session

This bill directs the Commissioner of Health to require every hospital in the State, every birthing center licensed in the State, every federally qualified health center in the State, and every physician or health care practitioner in the State providing care to a pregnant person, to provide, without cost to the patient: (1) a validated home blood pressure monitor to a pregnant patient who is diagnosed with preeclampsia; (2) a validated home blood pressure monitor to a pregnant patient who expresses fear or anxiety regarding the patient's blood pressure and who requests a blood pressure monitor; and (3) printed educational material regarding preeclampsia to each pregnant patient at the patient's first pregnancy visit. The educational material shall be developed and distributed to providers by the Department of Health and shall include, at a minimum, the following information: a definition of preeclampsia; the symptoms and warning signs of preeclampsia and at what point a patient experiencing those symptoms or warning signs should contact a medical professional; and a description of how a patient can advocate for themselves in regard to addressing preeclampsia. The sponsor's goal is to provide pregnant patients in New Jersey, particularly those diagnosed with preeclampsia, with home blood pressure monitors and the training to use such a monitor to improve maternal outcomes in the State. Preeclampsia is a high blood pressure disorder that can occur during or after pregnancy. The condition can keep the baby from getting proper amounts of blood and oxygen from the mother. Preeclampsia can also cause the mother to have serious problems with her brain, liver, and kidneys. Monitoring blood pressure is therefore an essential part of prenatal and postpartum care. Self-measured blood pressure monitoring in a patient's home can be particularly critical in the case of masked hypertension, where blood pressure levels are elevated at home despite normal blood pressure in a clinical setting. In addition, sudden rises in blood pressure can threaten pregnant women between prenatal appointments or if they have limited access to healthcare. This bill seeks to eliminate barriers to home-based monitoring, such as access to blood pressure measurement devices or limited knowledge on how to utilize a device. In doing so, this bill provides for the early detection of life-threatening high blood pressure in pregnancy, thereby preventing the maternal and neonatal morbidities associated with preeclampsia. In addition, the bill directs that a hospital, a birthing center, a federally qualified health center, or a physician or health care practitioner that provides a patient a validated home blood pressure monitor pursuant to the bill is required, in accordance with guidelines developed by the commissioner, to educate and train the patient on the proper use of the blood pressure monitor; to transmit blood pressure data from the patient's blood pressure monitor; to interpret blood pressure data from the patient's blood pressure monitor; and to report to the Department of Health, one year after the effective date of this act and annually thereafter, de-identifiable data on the number of patients who received blood pressure monitors under this section and the health outcomes of those patients. The bill also directs the Department of Health to establish a process by which a hospital, a birthing center, a federally qualified health center, or a physician or health care practitioner that provides a patient with a validated home blood pressure monitor under the bill is able to submit a claim to the department for the reimbursement of the cost of the validated home blood pressure monitor and any provider time used to educate and train the patient on the proper use of the blood pressure monitor, to transmit blood pressure data from the patient's blood pressure monitor, and to interpret blood pressure data from the patient's blood pressure monitor, provided that the patient does not have coverage of such benefits from a third party, such as an insurance carrier or medical assistance program. The bill appropriations $1 million to the department to issue these reimbursements and requires that any unspent balance at the end of the current fiscal year be appropriated for the same purpose in the next fiscal year. Finally, under the bill, the Commissioner of Health is mandated to report to the Governor and to the Legislature, 18 months after the effective date of the bill, and annually thereafter, on the health care outcomes of patients provided blood pressure monitors under the bill, which report is to include: the number of patients who received blood pressure monitors, disaggregated by those patients who were diagnosed with preeclampsia and those patients who requested blood pressure monitors; and the number of patients who received blood pressure monitors who: had documented improvement with blood pressure following the receipt of the monitor, required hospitalization due to blood pressure issues following the receipt of the monitor, and experienced maternal mortality related to preeclampsia. The bill also requires health insurers to provide coverage for self-measured blood pressure monitoring for any subscriber who is diagnosed with preeclampsia, which coverage is to include the provision of a validated home blood pressure monitor and the reimbursement of provider time used to educate and train the subscriber on the proper use of the blood pressure monitor, to transmit blood pressure data from the subscriber's blood pressure monitor, and to interpret blood pressure data from the subscriber's blood pressure monitor. Specifically, this provision of the bill affects health, hospital, and medical service corporations; individual and group health insurance policies; health maintenance organizations; individual health benefits plans; small employer health benefits plans; the State Health Benefits Program; the School Employees' Health Benefits Program; and the State Medicaid Program.

Committee Categories

Teresa Ruiz (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 02/05/2024)

Official Document