Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator TROY SINGLETON
District 7 (Burlington)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Schepisi
SYNOPSIS
Mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for professional firefighters not enrolled in SHBP; makes appropriation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act mandating access to periodic cancer screening examinations for full-time paid firefighters not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program, amending P.L.2021, c.478, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2021, c.478 (C.52:14-17.29ii) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. A firefighter employed as a full-time paid employee of a fire department or unit of this State or a political subdivision of this State shall be provided a cancer screening examination conducted by a physician not less than three years after the start of the firefighter’s employment as a firefighter and every three years thereafter during the course of the firefighter’s employment. The examination shall include screening for, at a minimum and when applicable, the following cancers:
(1) colon;
(2) lung;
(3) bladder;
(4) oral;
(5) thyroid;
(6) skin;
(7) blood;
(8) breast;
(9) cervical
(10) testicular; and
(11) prostate.
b. Subsection a. of this section shall apply [only] to a firefighter enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program as occupational coverage. For the purpose of this [section] subsection, employment as a full-time paid employee of a fire department or unit of this State or a political subdivision of this State shall be a pre-existing condition.
c. The State Health Benefits Commission shall establish a program to cover the cost of cancer screening examinations pursuant to subsection a. of this section for a firefighter who is not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program when such examinations are not otherwise covered by the health care benefits plan or program provided to the firefighter by the employer or by other health care coverage. The program shall require the submission of such information by the provider and the firefighter as shall be necessary to make a determination on coverage. Payment shall be made directly to providers. The program shall make such payments from funds specifically appropriated to the commission for this purpose. At no time shall the cost being reimbursed to the provider for a cancer screening examination exceed $1,250. No co-payment, deductible, coinsurance, or out-of-pocket expense shall be required for such examinations. For the purpose of this subsection, employment as a full-time paid employee of a fire department or unit of this State or a political subdivision of this State shall be a pre-existing condition. There shall be an appropriation from the State General Fund in each annual appropriations act of such funds as necessary for the purposes of this section.
(cf: P.L.2021, c.478, s.1)
2. There is appropriated from the State General Fund to the State Health Benefits Commission in the Department of the Treasury $2,000,000 for the purposes of subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.2021, c.478 (C.52:14-17.29ii).
3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023.
STATEMENT
This bill mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for firefighters who are not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP). Under current law, a firefighter enrolled in SHBP is entitled to a cancer screening examination every three years. This bill expands the access to examinations for firefighters who have a different health care plan through their employer or receive health insurance coverage in any other manner. The bill creates a special program to be administered by the State Health Benefits Commission and appropriates $2 million to effectuate the purposes of the bill.
The bill specifies that there should be no out-of-pocket cost to the firefighter and the program will pay the provider directly, eliminating a need to reimburse the firefighter for such costs. Additionally, the bill specifies that payment to the provider for reimbursement should not exceed $1,250.
The bill will take effect January 1, 2023.