Concerns health care services provided to incarcerated individuals.
Summary
A4925 would eliminate health care and medication co-payments for people held in State or county correctional custody. It amends the existing inmate health care reimbursement law to bar charging incarcerated individuals for medical care, surgery, dental care, hospitalization, treatment, or prescription and nonprescription drugs provided during incarceration or detention. The bill also removes language that previously allowed nominal fees and cost-sharing calculations tied to State or county correctional facilities.
The bill further changes how unpaid correctional health care charges are handled. It repeals the statute section that authorized liens and certificates of debt for unpaid co-payments, and it declares existing unpaid amounts, unsatisfied certificates of debt, outstanding liens, and related collection fees unenforceable, void, and discharged. At the same time, it preserves the ability of the State or counties to seek reimbursement from an inmate’s health insurance plan when coverage exists, and it directs the Department of Banking and Insurance to adopt rules governing those reimbursement claims.
Impact
The bill would significantly revise P.L.1995, c.254 (C.30:7E-1 et seq.), the law governing inmate health care charges and reimbursement. It removes the inmate co-payment framework, repeals section 4 of the existing law, and nullifies existing debt collection tools tied to unpaid inmate medical charges. It also clarifies that no inmate may be denied care because of lack of insurance or inability to pay, while leaving intact the State’s and counties’ authority to bill health insurers for covered inmates and to recover certain unrecoverable county fees from State agencies as specified in the bill.
Sentiment
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive of eliminating correctional health care co-payments and related debt collection. The statement emphasizes that the temporary suspension of these charges during the COVID-19 public health emergency has ended and that the department planned to reinstate them, suggesting the bill is intended to make the suspension permanent. No committee testimony or recorded votes are provided, so there is no additional evidence of opposition or support beyond the sponsor’s framing.
Contention
The main policy tension is between eliminating financial barriers and debt burdens for incarcerated people versus preserving mechanisms for recouping correctional health care costs. Supporters, as reflected in the bill, appear to view co-payments, liens, and certificates of debt as unfair and counterproductive, especially because care cannot be denied for inability to pay. Potentially affected parties include the Department of Corrections, county jails, the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Banking and Insurance, and State and county treasurers, which would need to adjust billing and collection practices. The bill also preserves insurer reimbursement, so another point of distinction is that it targets charges to inmates themselves rather than third-party health plans.