SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[Second Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4913  

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 4, 2023

      The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 4913 (2R).

      Under the this bill, any network agreement between a carrier, or the carrier’s contracted vendor, and a health care provider for the provision of health or dental care services is prohibited from mandating only one form of payment to the health care provider.  A carrier, or the carrier’s vendor, is also prohibited from restricting the method of payment to an out-of-network health care provider providing out-of-network covered services to only one form of payment.

      The bill also requires a carrier, or the carrier’s contracted vendor, to provide certain information to a health care provider, prior to initiating its first payment to the health care provider, where one of the available payment methods includes a fee and before changing the available payment methods.  The bill prohibits a carrier from using a health care provider’s preferred method of payment as a factor when deciding whether to provide credentials to a health care provider.

As reported, Assembly Bill No. 4913 (2R) is identical to Senate Bill No. 3133, as amended and reported by the committee on this date.