ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 6313
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JANUARY 8, 2026
The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 6313.
As reported, this bill establishes a pilot program to support hospitals that maintain certain services when relocating and appropriates $3 million.
Under the bill, in order to ensure continued access to care for patients residing in underserved communities, the Department of Health is to establish a pilot program known as the “Continued Access in Underserved Communities Pilot Program,” under which a hospital for which the Department of Health has approved a certificate of need application to relocate from its original location in an underserved community to a property that was owned by the federal government on or before December 31, 2005, may maintain a community access location at the hospital’s original location for the duration of the pilot program.
The bill provides that the community access location is to operate at the relocated hospital’s original location in an underserved community and under the same license as the relocated hospital and may be: (1) operated as a remote location of the relocated hospital; and (2) overseen by the same administration, support departments, and clinical departments as apply to the relocated hospital. The Department of Health is to have the authority to grant waivers from the mandatory requirements set forth in this bill or any other applicable requirements set forth in N.J.A.C. 8:43G-1 et seq. that may be necessary for the hospital to maintain a community access location at its original location in an underserved community pursuant to the bill’s provisions in a manner that facilitates integration with the relocated hospital.
Under the bill, any hospital that participates in the pilot program is to apply for and receive financial assistance to cover the anticipated costs associated with developing and maintaining the services and infrastructure of a community access location or with developing and implementing community health programs that support continued access to care in the underserved community, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, and provided that the participating hospital is to submit an application satisfying the requirements set forth in the bill.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) determines that State costs will increase over approximately ten years to provide financial assistance to hospitals that meet the requirements for participation in the pilot program.
The bill appropriates $3.0 million to the Department of Health for the provisions of the bill.
Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, which received State Health Planning Board approval in December 2025 to relocate to a new campus in Tinton Falls, appears to be the only hospital that currently qualifies for the pilot program. The OLS, however, cannot anticipate the extent to which the $3.0 million appropriation will cover anticipated annual costs for the hospital to maintain a community access location in Long Branch or implement community health programs to support continued access to care for Long Branch residents, as required under the bill.
Given that the bill authorizes the Department of Health to waive the bill’s requirements and any State regulatory requirements governing hospital licensure, as necessary to maintain a community access location in an underserved community, the OLS concludes that additional hospitals may seek to participate in the pilot program, thereby potentially increasing State costs for financial assistance to participating hospitals.
To the extent that the bill’s requirements to ensure continued access to health care in underserved communities results in the provision of additional health care services for NJ FamilyCare enrollees in these communities, NJ FamilyCare program expenditures will increase by an indeterminate amount. Any increase in State expenditures for the NJ FamilyCare program will result in an indeterminate increase in State revenues, in the form of federal reimbursements for State expenditures under the federal Medicaid program.