A bill introduced to the New Jersey Legislature on Monday by state Sens. Joseph F. Vitale (D) and Robert W. Singer (R) would prohibit senior living and skilled nursing providers from acting as financial guardians or powers of attorney for residents, and it also would prohibit providers from including arbitration agreements in their admissions agreements.
A companion measure has been introduced in the lower house by Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D).
According to LeadingAge New Jersey & Delaware, however, the bill is a new version of legislation that Gov. Phil Murphy (D) already signed into law in January 2022 and went into effect Nov. 1.
“I think S306 is actually a mistake that should have been redacted this session,” Meagan Glaser, MPAP, vice president of LeadingAge NJ & DE told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
“The [original] statute is one of many that emerged from the results of the Manatt report on nursing homes that was released in May 2020. The Manatt report focused on the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes,” she added.
The newly introduced legislation would prohibit anyone associated with a long-term care facility from managing the affairs of a resident “except pursuant to an order of the Superior Court appointing that person as guardian.” The legislators define long-term care facilities as nursing homes, assisted living residences, comprehensive personal care homes, residential healthcare facilities and dementia care homes.
Guardians would be required to be appointed in consultation with the state’s Office of the Public Guardian for Elderly Adults, NJ.com reported.
The legislation also would prohibit long-term care facility owners, employees or “another person who benefits financially from a long-term care facility” from acting under a power of attorney on behalf of a resident.
And the bill also would require the state Department of Health to develop a standard resident admissions contract and would prohibit providers from including any type of arbitration agreement as part of the standard admissions agreement for a prospective resident.
Andy Aronson, president and CEO of Health Care Association of NJ, told the McKnight’s Business Daily that the proposed legislation would “penalize” those with few resources because it would necessitate the hiring of attorneys.
“This wrong-headed bill would primarily benefit attorneys at the expense of this most vulnerable population,” he said. “The legislature’s efforts should be spent easing access to care, rather than on making that access more expensive.”
Glaser said that LeadingAge NJ & DE worked with the sponsors of the already-passed bill, “and many of our concerns were addressed, which we are grateful for.
“With that said,” she added, “many of the reportable items in this legislation are already available to consumers on-line via the federal Nursing Home Compare and Five Star Quality Rating System, and we believe this new statute will place an even greater burden upon our mission-driven providers and the New Jersey Department of Health’s already stretched resources.”
