SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[Second Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 2804

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 13, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2804 (2R).

      As reported, the bill requires the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (division) in the Department of Human Services and the State Board of Medical Examiners to, within 365 days of the bill’s effective date, develop and implement a process to improve the efficiency of reviewing NJ FamilyCare provider applications, including the sharing of information by the State Board of Medical Examiners with the division regarding physician licensure applicants who apply to enroll as NJ FamilyCare providers.

      At a minimum, the process would first require the State Board of Medical Examiners to make available to the division the applicant’s license number within five days of issuing the license number to the applicant.  If the applicant is denied licensure, the bill directs the State Board of Medical Examiners to notify the division within five days of the final determination. 

      In addition, the process would also require the division, to the extent possible and in accordance with the documentation submitted with the NJ FamilyCare provider application, to immediately begin processing each NJ FamilyCare provider application upon receipt of the application, provided that the application contains the necessary licensure information or demonstrates that the applicant is pending licensure approval from the State Board of Medical Examiners.  Within 15 days of receiving an applicant’s license number from the State Board of Medical Examiners, the division is required to notify an applicant in writing, if applicable, of any additional information or documentation required by the division to enroll the applicant as an approved NJ FamilyCare physician.

      The bill explicitly provides that its provisions are not to be construed to alter the application requirements for State licensure or the enrollment requirements for a NJ FamilyCare provider, or to require the division to approve an applicant for NJ FamilyCare provider enrollment before the division has received the National Provider Identifier number for the applicant.

      As reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 1626 (1R), which was also reported by the committee on this date.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that any additional State costs under the bill could likely be absorbed by resources currently available to the Board of Medical Examiners in the Division of Consumer Affairs. This is because, in recent years, revenues collected by the Board of Medical Examiners have routinely surpassed the board’s annual expenditures.

      The OLS assumes that to the extent that State costs increase in order to develop and implement a process to improve the efficiency of reviewing NJ FamilyCare provider applications, the Division of Consumer Affairs would increase the licensure fee charged to individuals seeking licensure to practice medicine in the State.

      Any additional costs borne by the Department of Human Services would be in the form of increased contract payments to Gainwell Technologies, the NJ FamilyCare contracted systems administrator, which is also responsible for NJ FamilyCare provider enrollment. Because State Medicaid administrative costs are eligible for federal Medicaid reimbursements, the State would be responsible for 50 percent of any increased NJ FamilyCare administrative costs incurred pursuant to the bill.