Following on the heels of other state laws targeting nursing home enforcement and reporting such as in New York, Governor Murphy recently signed into law P.L. 2021, c.457 (formerly A-4478/S2759), which sets forth requirements for the New Jersey Dep’t of Health (DOH) to assess sanctions and impose penalties on nursing homes with repeat violations of State and federal requirements. The new law also imposes revised reporting requirements for nursing homes in significant ways, in some instances, much broader than most other states in the country.
Regarding sanctions and penalties, the law requires DOH to establish a series of escalating fines for repeat or multiple violations by the same nursing home or when violations result in severe adverse health consequences for residents or staff. Licensure actions include possible suspension or license revocation, recommending that such homes’ CMS Medicare provider agreement likewise be terminated, possible appointment of an independent manager to assume control over operations, and denying payment for all Medicaid claims submitted.
New Jersey nursing home reporting requirements have also become more onerous. New Jersey nursing homes will be required to maintain public websites where annual owner-certified financial statements must be posted along with recent cost reports filed with CMS. In addition, nursing homes must report statistics to DOH regarding facility-acquired infections and other information; DOH is also required to make available on its public website a data dashboard searchable by nursing home that will report on facility CMS star ratings, inspections and surveys, staffing levels and compliance with staffing ratios, and e.g., frequency of infections, bedsores and other data.
The law becomes effective on November 1, 2022 and requires DOH to adopt regulations necessary to implement the law on an expedited basis. Therefore, while NJ nursing homes are not yet affected by this law, steps should be taken now to prepare for its eventual effects. We continue to monitor the implementation of this and other similar laws and regulations affecting the industry.