Excludes veterans' benefits from calculation of financial obligation for care at psychiatric facility.

A4140

ASSEMBLY, No. 4140

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblywoman� SHAMA A. HAIDER

District 37 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Excludes veterans� benefits from calculation of
financial obligation for care at psychiatric facility.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning payments for patients in psychiatric
facilities and amending R.S.30:4-60.

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

���� 1.��� R.S.30:4-60 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 30:4-60.����� a.� If the court
shall determine that the person has a mental illness and is in need of
treatment at a psychiatric facility, it may determine the legal settlement of
the person and, consistent with the laws governing civil commitment and the
Rules of Court, direct the admission or hospitalization of the person to the
care of the Commissioner of Human Services for treatment in a psychiatric
facility, short-term care facility, or special psychiatric hospital in this
State.

���� b.��� If the Department of
Human Services determines that the person has a developmental disability and is
eligible for functional services from the Division of Developmental
Disabilities, the department, using a formula of financial ability to pay as
promulgated annually by the Department of the Treasury, shall determine if the
person with a developmental disability has sufficient income, assets, resources
,

or estate to pay for the person�s maintenance as fixed by the department, or is
able to make any payment towards the person�s maintenance, or if the person's
chargeable relatives or other persons chargeable by contract are able to pay
the person's maintenance or make any payment toward the person's maintenance on
the person's behalf. The department shall determine the legal settlement of the
developmentally disabled person pursuant to section 86 of P.L.1965, c.59
(C.30:4-165.3).

���� The department shall send
written notice of the periodic payment amount to the person or the person�s
parent or guardian, chargeable relative, or other person chargeable by contract
for the person's support.� All required payments shall be made directly to the
department unless otherwise specified in the notice.� The notice may, in the
discretion of the department, contain such direction as may seem proper
concerning security to be given for the payment.� The payment notice shall be
separate and independent of any order of commitment to the care and custody of
the commissioner or any order of guardianship.

���� The department shall annually
review and revise, as appropriate, its payment calculations.� If the financial
circumstances of the person or persons chargeable by law or contract for the
support of the developmentally disabled person change prior to the annual
review, the chargeable person or persons shall immediately notify the
department in writing.

���� c.���� (1)� A person with
mental illness who is 18 years of age or older and is being treated in a
psychiatric facility as defined in section 2 of P.L.1987, c.116 (C.30:4-27.2)
shall be liable for the full cost of the person�s treatment, maintenance, and
all necessary and related expenses of the person's hospitalization until the
person is determined to be ineligible for or has exhausted any third party
insurance benefits or medical assistance program that will pay an amount toward
the facility's bill.� The obligation by the person with mental illness for the
remainder of the facility's bill, after the credit for all available third
party insurance payments or medical assistance program payment, will be in an
amount based upon the sliding scale fee schedule established for charity care
pursuant to subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.1992, c.160 (C.26:2H-18.60).�
In
calculating the obligation pursuant to this subsection, the person�s income
shall not include veterans� benefits the person receives.

���� (2)�� The obligation of the
parent of a person with mental illness under the age of 18 for the remainder of
the facility's bill shall be based upon the lesser of the sliding scale fee
schedule established for charity care pursuant to subsection b. of section 10
of P.L.1992, c.160 (C.26:2H-18.60), or the formula of financial ability to pay
as promulgated annually by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to
subsection b. of this section.

���� (3)�� A person with mental
illness or a person responsible under a court order for the cost of care and
maintenance of a person with mental illness who, without good cause, (a)
refuses to submit information and authorizations sufficient to enable the
facility to access any available third-party payer, or (b) refuses to apply for
public medical assistance for which the person with mental illness may be
eligible, shall be responsible for the full cost of the person's care and
maintenance at the facility without the application of the criteria set forth
in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection.

���� (4)�� Based upon the criteria
set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Department of Human
Services or county adjuster in the county of settlement, as applicable, shall
make a determination of the amount the person with mental illness who is 18
years of age or older, or the parent of a person with mental illness under the
age of 18, shall be liable to contribute toward the cost of the person's
treatment, maintenance, and all necessary and related expenses of the person's
hospitalization. The liability may be enforced by the Commissioner of Human
Services in the manner set forth in section 1 of P.L.1962, c.207 (C.30:4-75.1).

���� (5)�� In the case of a person
with mental illness who is married, the department shall establish a spousal
share of the combined assets of the couple that shall be preserved for the
noninstitutionalized spouse and immune from execution to satisfy the person's liability
to contribute toward the cost of treatment, maintenance, and all necessary and
related expenses of the person's hospitalization.� In order to determine the
spousal share of the combined assets to be preserved, the Commissioner of Human
Services shall employ the same methodology used by the State Medicaid program
to determine the resources that are preserved for the needs of the community
spouse of an institutionalized individual in accordance with N.J.A.C.10:71-4.8.

���� (6)�� The Commissioner of
Human Services shall act on any request by a person with mental illness who is
18 years of age or older, or the parent of a person with mental illness under
the age of 18, to compromise for settlement of the obligation established pursuant
to this section.� With respect to the request, the commissioner shall allow the
person or parent to retain adequate funds to:

���� (a)�� maintain the person's or
parent's housing and usual standard of living in the community;

���� (b)�� provide for any
necessary medical expenses or special needs;

���� (c)�� support any minor,
disabled, elderly, or other dependent;

���� (d)�� establish a trust to
ensure future self-sufficiency; or

���� (e)�� provide for any other
genuine financial needs.

���� Requests to compromise for
settlement of the obligation shall be liberally granted by the commissioner and
shall promote the person's or the person�s parent's opportunity to obtain and
maintain employment, purchase property, both real and personal, and achieve
full reintegration into the community, as applicable.� The commissioner shall
ensure that all persons and parents are notified of their right to request a
compromise and the procedure for doing so.

(cf: P.L.2013, c.253, s.12)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill amends R.S.30:4-60
to exclude veterans� benefits from income for the purpose of calculating the
financial obligation for care in a psychiatric facility, which is defined as a
State psychiatric hospital listed in R.S.30:1-7, county psychiatric hospital,
or psychiatric unit of a county hospital.

���� Currently, subsection c. of
R.S.30:4-60, which was added by P.L.2005, c.55, provides that the financial
obligation of an adult with mental illness, after taking a credit for all
available third party insurance or medical assistance program payments, is based
on the sliding scale fee schedule established for charity care under section 10
of P.L.1992, c.160 (C.26:2H-18.60).

���� Under the bill, veterans�
benefits the person receives would be excluded from income when calculating the
adult�s obligation for psychiatric care using the sliding scale fee for charity
care.