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S4311
SENATE, No. 4311
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 21, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
���� �Self-Directed Care Access Act�; requires DHS to
establish common intake system and application process for Medicaid
self-directed care programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning Medicaid home and community-based
services and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� This act shall be known
and may be cited as the �Self-Directed Care Access Act.�
���� 2.��� As used in this act:
���� �Applicant� means a Medicaid
enrollee who has a pending application to receive home and community-based
services through a State Medicaid waiver program that provides participants
with home and community-based services.
���� �Self-directed employee� means
a person who is recruited and offered employment directly by a Medicaid
enrollee who is eligible to receive services funded by the Division of
Developmental Disabilities or the Division of Medical Assistance and Health
Services in the Department of Human Services, or the Medicaid enrollee�s authorized
representative, to perform approved services, for which the self-directed
employee is qualified.
���� 3.��� Contingent upon the
receipt of any necessary federal approvals and to the extent permitted under
federal and State law, the Department of Human Services shall establish an
online portal through which an individual who currently participates in a
Medicaid waiver program that offers home and community-based services, or an
applicant for such a Medicaid waiver program, may apply in order to self-direct
the services accessed through the applicable Medicaid waiver program.
���� 4.��� a.� The online portal
established pursuant to section 3 of this act shall enable an individual who
currently participates in a Medicaid waiver program that offers home and
community-based services, or an applicant for such a Medicaid waiver program,
to undergo an initial screening assessment to determine whether the individual
or applicant may qualify to self-direct the services accessed through the
applicable Medicaid waiver program.
���� b.��� Based upon the
information provided pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the individual
or the applicant shall be automatically referred to any appropriate Medicaid
waiver programs for which the applicant is eligible and that also enable
participants to self-direct the home and community-based services accessed
through the Medicaid waiver program.
���� 5.��� The Department of Human
Services, to the extent feasible under federal law and regulations, shall
provide for:
���� a.���� a single, standardized
application for all Medicaid waiver programs that offer home and
community-based services for participants and that also enable participants to
self-direct the home and community-based services accessed through the Medicaid
waiver program; and
���� b.��� standardized
documentation, across all applicable Medicaid waiver programs that offer home
and community-based services, that a program participant shall submit to the
department prior to hiring a self-directed employee to provide services for the
program participant.
���� 6.��� The Commissioner of
Human Services shall apply for such State plan amendments or waivers as may be
necessary to implement the provisions of this act and to secure federal
financial participation for State Medicaid expenditures under the federal
Medicaid program.
���� 7.��� The Commissioner of
Human Services shall, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure
Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as
necessary to implement this act.
���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect twelve months following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill, the �Self-Directed
Care Access Act,� requires the Department of Human Services (department),
contingent on the receipt of any necessary federal approvals, to establish a
single online portal through which individuals who currently participate in a
Medicaid waiver program that offers home and community-based services, or an
applicant for such a Medicaid waiver program, may apply in order to self-direct
the services accessed through the applicable Medicaid waiver program.
���� The online portal will enable
an individual who currently participates in a Medicaid home and community-based
waiver program, or an applicant for such a waiver program, to undergo an
initial screening assessment to determine whether the individual or applicant
may qualify to self-direct the services accessed through the applicable waiver
program.� Based on the information provided during the screening assessment, the
individual or the applicant will be automatically referred to any appropriate
Medicaid waiver programs for which they are eligible and that also enable
participants to self-direct the services accessed through the waiver program.
���� To the extent feasible under
federal law and regulations, the department will provide for a single,
standardized application for all Medicaid waiver programs that offer home and
community-based services and that also enable program participants to self-direct
the home and community-based services accessed through the waiver program.� The
department will also provide for standardized documentation, across all
applicable Medicaid waiver programs that provide home and community-based
services, that a program participant must submit prior to hiring a
self-directed employee.
���� The provisions of the bill
will take effect twelve months following the date of enactment.
���� It is the sponsor�s intent to
simplify the process by which individuals and families access self-directed
home and community-based services, available through certain Medicaid waiver
programs,� and to eliminate existing administrative barriers that make it
difficult for some individuals and families to self-direct these services.�
���� Currently, the State offers
the following Medicaid waiver programs that enable participants to self-direct
their home and community-based services: the Supports Program and the Community
Care Program, administered by the Division of Developmental Disabilities; and
the Personal Preference Program, administered by the Division of Medical
Assistance and Health Services.