Establishes State stockpile of medicine and medical supplies; makes appropriation.

A2291 TR

ASSEMBLY, No. 2291

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman MARGIE DONLON, M.D.

District 11 (Monmouth)

Assemblyman� ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Azzariti Jr. and Sampson

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes State stockpile of medicine and medical
supplies; makes appropriation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Assembly Health Committee with
technical review.

��

An Act
concerning medicine and medical supplies and
supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes
, and making an
appropriation
.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� The Legislature finds and
declares that having access to a Statewide strategic buffer stock, essential
medicine reserve, or strategic inventory of essential medicines in the event of
emergencies and disasters is vital to the State�s health care system,
educational settings, and general population who may rely on its healthcare
resources, especially residents in rural and medically underserved areas.

���� 2.� As used in this act:

���� �Department� means the Department
of Health.

���� �Designated recipients� shall
include, but shall not limited to, healthcare providers, healthcare facilities,
State disaster relief organizations, State-operated facilities, and other
entities that strategically reserve medical resources, which may be disbursed
pursuant to section 3 of this act.

���� �Essential buffer stock� means
an essential buffer stock of emergency and chronic disease medication,
vaccines, and medical supplies, essential medicine reserve, or strategic
inventory of essential medicines.

���� �Natural disaster� means any
catastrophic event including, but not limited to, hurricanes, tornadoes,
earthquakes, floods, winter storms, or wildfires that are declared by the
Governor as a state of emergency.

���� �Outbreak� means any
widespread illness, disease, or other specific health-related behavior.

����
�State
Office of Emergency Management� means the Office of Emergency Management in the
Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

���� �Virtually sequestered buffer
stock� means an inventory of medications managed by a distribution vendor to
avoid expiration and ensure availability during emergencies and disasters.

���� 3.� a.� The department, in
collaboration with the
State Office of Emergency
Management
, shall establish a Statewide essential buffer stock for
emergency preparedness and drug shortage prevention to be used and dispensed in
the event of a public health emergency, outbreak, or other emergency,
including, but not limited to a natural disaster, man-made disaster, or a mass
casualty events at the local and State level.

���� b.� The department, in
collaboration with the
State Office of Emergency
Management
, shall establish guidelines for the procurement, management,
and distribution of medicines, vaccines, and medical supplies items in the
essential buffer stock, including a virtually sequestered buffer stock.� At a
minimum, the guidelines shall consider the following:

���� (1)� the various types of
items that may be required during a public health emergency, outbreak, or other
emergency;

���� (2)� the amount of each type
of item required for a sustained outbreak, public health emergency, or other
emergency;

���� (3)� the development of an
action plan establishing policies and standards for an essential buffer stock
surge capacity, including a virtually sequestered buffer stock, to ensure that
hospitals, emergency providers, and other designated recipients have access to
an adequate supply of any relevant items during a public health emergency,
outbreak, or other emergency;

���� (4)� the type of federal and
State policies and funding that would be required for the State to establish
the essential buffer stock; and

���� (5)� the method of
prioritizing distribution from any procurement of medicine, vaccines, and
medical supplies in the event that there are insufficient resources to meet the
identified needs of healthcare providers, healthcare facilities, and other
designated recipients, including consideration of the following populations:

���� (a)� healthcare providers,
recipients, or employers located in areas with a high share of rural or
underserved residents;

���� (b)� healthcare providers,
recipients, or employers located in medically underserved areas, as designated
by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources
and Services Administration;

���� (c) healthcare providers,
recipients, or employers that disproportionately serve a medically underserved
or rural population, as designated by the United States Department of Health
and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration; and

���� (d)� healthcare providers,
recipients, or employers located in a county with a high infection rate or high
hospitalization rate related to the emergency.

���� c. The department, in
consultation with the
State Office of Emergency
Management and
other relevant agencies, shall define a list of entities
that may receive resources from the essential buffer stock under the qualifying
circumstances listed in subsection a. of this section.

���� d.� The department may
contract with a private entity for the procurement of strategic emergency
readiness supplies for, and the management and distribution of, the essential
buffer stock, including a virtually sequestered buffer stock.� The department may
contract for the reservation of supplies stored by a private vendor-managed
entity for the essential buffer stock, and the distribution of those supplies
to locations specified by the department, consistent with the guidelines
established pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

���� e.� The department, in
collaboration with the
State Office of Emergency
Management
, and other stakeholders, as necessary, shall conduct demand
planning and essential buffer stock modeling to help determine which emergency
readiness supplies are to be included in the essential buffer stock at the
discretion of the department. The demand planning and essential buffer stock
modeling shall include at a minimum:

���� (1)� recommendations on the
types of supplies to be included in the essential buffer stock, especially for
rural and medically underserved settings;

���� (2)� an analysis on the
anticipated demand for supplies for various public health emergencies and
natural disaster scenarios;

���� (3)� recommendations on the
quantities to be held in the essential buffer stock for each type of supply;

���� (4)� distribution guidelines
for these supplies to be distributed to municipalities and healthcare settings
in the event of a local or regional public health emergency; and

���� (5) possible logistical and
operational strategies that could be used to reduce the costs of these supplies
including, but not limited to, the use of a virtually sequestered buffer stock
procured and managed by an external vendor.

���� f.� In maintaining and
securing supplies pursuant to this section, the department shall seek to
maximize available federal and State funding to implement the provisions of
this act.

���� 4.� The Commissioner of Health
and the
Director of the State Office of Emergency
Management
may each adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the
�Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as
necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

���� 5.� There is appropriated from
the General Fund to the Department of Health such sums as are necessary to
implement the provisions of this act.

���� 6.� This act shall take effect
180 days after the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health may
take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary
for the implementation of this act.