New Jersey § 10:5-12

§ 10:5-12.

It shall be an unlawful discrimination for any skilled nursing or intermediate care

facility which is a Medicaid provider pursuant to P.L.1968, c. 413 ( C. 30:4D-1 et seq. ) and whose Medicaid occupancy level is less than the Statewide occupancy level, to

deny admission to a qualified Medicaid applicant or a recipient of public assistance

under P.L.1947, c. 156 ( C. 44:8-107 et seq. ) when a nursing home bed becomes available; except that this requirement shall not

be construed to apply to the transfer of a resident from a residential unit to a nursing

care unit within a facility, as defined by regulation, or prohibit a life care community,

as defined by regulation, from contracting with its own residents for prior rights

to beds in the nursing care unit of the community. The Commissioner of Human Services shall modify this requirement based on the licensed

bed capacity and the financial condition of a facility but in no case shall the Medicaid

occupancy level of that facility be less than 35%. The commissioner shall by September 1 of each year provide the Institutions, Health

and Welfare Committee of the Senate, the Corrections, Health and Human Services Committee

of the General Assembly, and the Governor with a report stating in specific detail

the adverse financial condition of each facility exempted from this requirement. The criteria used by the commissioner to modify this requirement shall be contained

in regulations which he shall adopt pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,”

P.L.1968, c. 410 ( C. 52:14B-1 et seq. ), and a list of all skilled nursing or intermediate care facilities granted a modification

by the commissioner shall be published in the New Jersey Register within one month

of the commissioner's granting of the modification. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a religiously affiliated

skilled nursing or intermediate care facility from utilizing religious affiliation

as a uniform qualification for admission. For the purpose of this subsection and section 3 of this amendatory and supplementary

act, 1 “ Statewide occupancy level ” means 45% of the total number of licensed beds in a skilled nursing or intermediate

care facility for the first year following the effective date of this amendatory and

supplementary act. For each year thereafter, the Commissioner of Human Services shall annually determine

the Statewide occupancy level based on the commissioner's projection of the need for

nursing facility bed space for qualified Medicaid applicants for that year, but the

level shall not be less than 45%. Upon making the determination of what the Statewide occupancy level shall be for

the next year, the commissioner shall promptly notify the members of the Senate Institutions,

Health and Welfare Committee and General Assembly Corrections, Health and Human Services

Committee, in writing, about the proposed level and the commissioner's rationale for

so determining the level. After notifying the committee members, the commissioner shall adopt the Statewide

occupancy level by regulation pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968,

c. 410 ( C. 52:14B-1 et seq. ). For the purpose of this section and section 3 of this amendatory and supplementary

act, “ Medicaid occupancy level ” means the average number of Medicaid recipients and recipients of public assistance

under P.L.1947, c. 156 ( C. 44:8-107 et seq. ) residing in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility divided by the total

number of licensed beds in the facility during that month. The Department of Human Services shall compile this information on a monthly basis

and it shall be made available to the public upon request. This information shall be provided to the Division on Civil Rights on a monthly

basis. 1

N.J.S.A. § 10:5-12.3.