ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1950

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MAY 11, 2026

      The Assembly Health Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 1950.

      As amended by the committee, this bill, which is designated as “The Stop Sepsis Act,” requires hospitals to establish protocols for the early recognition and treatment of patients with sepsis.

      Sepsis is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body’s overwhelming immune response to infection.  Sepsis results when the immune chemicals released into the bloodstream cause widespread inflammation, leading to blood clots, impaired blood flow, and oxygen and nutrient deprivation in the organs.  Sepsis can result in permanent organ damage, cognitive impairment, physical disability, or death.  Americans suffer from sepsis every year, and the condition is fatal in 28 to 50 percent of those cases.  Sepsis is the seventh-leading cause of death in New Jersey, and one of the leading causes of death in infants under one year of age in the State after congenital defect, birth injury, and unintentional injury.

      The protocols required under the bill would incorporate distinct components for adult, geriatric, obstetric, and pediatric patients and would include processes for screening, early recognition, and treatment of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock, including specific treatment guidelines for various circumstances and procedures for screening out patients for whom treatment would be inappropriate.  Hospitals will be required to ensure that appropriate staff members are periodically trained to implement the sepsis protocols.

      Hospitals will be responsible for collecting and using quality measures related to the recognition and treatment of sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock for the purpose of internal quality improvement and evaluating the implementation and adherence to the protocols.

      The Commissioner of Health will compile information necessary to develop a hospital report card on risk-adjusted sepsis-related quality measures which will be updated annually and made available on the Department of Health’s website.

      The bill provides that for the purposes of the early identification and treatment of sepsis, a third-party payor, managed care organization, or health benefits plan with which the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services contracts for the delivery of Medicaid services, and any health benefits plan, as defined pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2003, c.193 (C.17B:27D-2), will not substitute its own clinical judgment for that of the treating licensed health care provider with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of suspected sepsis, sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.  Diagnosis and treatment will include, but not be limited to, denial, downcoding, retrospective review, or payment reduction based on the application of alternative clinical definitions, proprietary algorithms, payer-developed medical necessity policies, or retrospective clinical validation reviews when the diagnosis has been documented and coded in accordance with ICD-10-CM official guidelines or any successor guidelines.

      The amended bill revises certain hospital infection control data reporting requirements for hospitals under current law to specify that the reported data are to be risk adjusted and that any infection rate data be reported and publicly displayed in a transparent and clinically valid format that accounts for relevant patient, facility, and case mix factors.  The amended bill also stipulates that the  submission of the required reports are to be through the National Healthcare Safety Network.

      This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments establish a short title for the bill as the “Stop Sepsis Act.”

      The committee amendments clarify the scope of the protocols to be established under the provisions of the bill to include adult, geriatric, obstetric, and pediatric patients, and specify that the protocols will include criteria to determine patients who should be excluded from the protocols, including those who have elected to enter hospice care.  As introduced, the bill would have excluded from the protocols those patients who had elected palliative care. 

      The committee amendments provide that the sepsis protocols will include specific guidelines for treatment appropriate to the patient’s condition, including criteria for evidence-based treatment and management.  As introduced, the bill specified that the treatment guidelines could include criteria for invasive and non-invasive treatment.

      The committee amendments clarify that the provisions of the bill requiring the training of staff on sepsis protocols is to include clinical staff involved in the recognition, treatment, or prevention of sepsis.  As introduced, the bill required that all professional staff with direct patient care responsibilities, and appropriate professional staff with indirect patient care responsibilities were to be trained under the provisions of the bill.

      The committee amendments provide that, subject to the availability of funds, the Department of Health will offer continuing education credits and other educational opportunities related to sepsis.

      The committee amendments remove a provision of the bill concerning the submission of proposed sepsis protocols by hospitals to the Department of Health. 

      The committee amendments revise the sepsis-related data reporting requirements under the bill and require the Commissioner of Health to compile information necessary to develop a hospital report card on risk-adjusted sepsis-related quality measures, which will be updated annually and made available on the Internet website of the Department of Health.  The committee amendments require that, for each hospital, the report card will include information on sepsis-related care and quality measures, which information each hospital will report annually to the department.

      The committee amendments provide that for the purposes of the early identification and treatment of sepsis, a third-party payor, managed care organization, or health benefits plan with which the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services contracts for the delivery of Medicaid services, and any health benefits plan will not substitute its own clinical judgment for that of the treating licensed health care provider with respect to the diagnosis and treatment of suspected sepsis, sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.

      The committee amendments revise certain hospital infection control data reporting requirements for hospitals under current law to require that certain infection rate data be appropriately risk-adjusted and reported and publicly displayed in a transparent and clinically-valid format that accounts for patient, facility, and case-mix factors. 

      The committee amendments also specify that the submission of the required reports are to be through the National Healthcare Safety Network.

      The committee amendments revise the bill’s effective date from four months following the date of enactment  to twelve months following the adoption of rules and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of Health.

      The committee amendments revise the synopsis and title of the bill to reflect these changes.