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Bill

Bill

A 1729

Creates Health Care Cost Containment and Price Transparency Commission, Office of Healthcare Affordability and Transparency, and hospital price transparency regulations.

2026-2027 Regular Session Introduced by Clinton Calabrese and 9 co-sponsors

Establishes a new independent commission and state office to set health care cost and hospital price growth benchmarks, enforce compliance, and publish transparency data to reduce

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee
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Bill Summary · A 1729

Summary of Bill A 1729 (NJ, 2026)

This summary explains the bill’s purpose, key provisions, who is affected, and notable timelines.

Purpose and intent

  • Establishes a Health Care Cost Containment and Price Transparency framework in New Jersey.
  • Creates an Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency within the Department of Health to support a new independent Health Care Cost Containment and Price Transparency Commission.
  • Aims to reduce growth in total health care spending, promote affordable pricing, improve transparency, and lower consumer costs (premiums and out-of-pocket expenses).

Key provisions and changes

A. Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency

  • Establishment: A new Office within the Department of Health.
  • Leadership: An executive director appointed by the Governor.
  • Functions:
    • Support and staff the new Commission; develop data analytics and public reporting mechanisms.
    • Develop data submission guidelines for health care entities (hospitals, payers, providers) on:
    • Total health care expenditures and their growth
    • Pricing information and pricing growth
    • Formulation of health care cost growth benchmarks and hospital price benchmarks
    • Public release of data
    • Collect hospital pricing data for the State Health Benefits Plan, including in-network and out-of-network allowed amounts per service, for each New Jersey hospital facility, broken down by service category:
    • Inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, and physician services (with some scope for feasibility decisions)
    • Prioritize data from existing sources to avoid duplicative data collection (e.g., Drug Affordability Council data, SHBP, School Employee Health Benefits Program, state and federal agencies, and possibly a Statewide All Payer Claims Database).
    • Conduct studies and programs to reduce per-capita health care spending and promote affordable pricing while maintaining access and quality.
    • Publish data and findings publicly (via website hosted by the Office or Department).

B. Health Care Cost Containment and Price Transparency Commission

  • Establishment: An 18-member Commission, independent of the Department, with duties to monitor, analyze, and contain health care prices.
  • Benchmarks:
    • Set a health care cost growth benchmark for health care entities.
    • Set a hospital price growth benchmark for each hospital (using their total facility plus physician price as a percent of Medicare as a baseline).
  • Data and oversight:
    • Request data from health care entities to evaluate total expenditures, prices, and growth.
    • Identify entities exceeding benchmarks and address excesses through public transparency, remediation, and enforcement actions (including civil penalties).
  • Enforcement:
    • Civil penalties for failing to respond to corrective action plan requests or for non-compliance with corrective action plans.
    • Penalties are to be processed under the state’s Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999.
  • Public reporting:
    • Annual report to the Governor and Legislature with the latest expenditure data, compliance status, state hospital pricing data for SHBP, and policy recommendations.
    • Publicly accessible online report.
  • Membership and operations:
    • 18 members with diverse representation (state officials, legislators, local government purchasers, public/private sector stakeholders, consumer advocates, small business interests, and the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency as non-voting members).
    • Terms of five years, staggered initial appointments, and a chair selected by the Commission.
    • Quorum and public meeting requirements, including at least quarterly meetings and at least one annual public meeting.
    • Ability to compel testimony from entities with benchmark-driven cost impacts.
    • Paid time off for members and reimbursement of expenses.

C. Hospital price transparency and debt collection provisions

  • Department of Health duties:
    • Ensure hospitals comply with federal hospital price transparency rules.
    • Issue written warnings or corrective action plans for noncompliant hospitals.
  • Debt collection prohibition:
    • Hospitals may not attempt to collect medical debt from a patient if not in compliance with the bill’s provisions at the time of service.
    • Prohibited debt collection actions include referring debt to collectors, suing patients, enforcing arbitration/mediation clauses, or reporting to credit bureaus.
  • Penalties for noncompliance:
    • Civil penalty of $10 per day per hospital bed for each offense.
    • Penalties collected via the state court system under the Penalty Enforcement Law.
  • Reporting:
    • Department to report on compliance with federal price transparency requirements and publish a compliance report.

D. Administrative and effective dates

  • The Commissioner of Health will adopt rules and regulations as needed to implement the act.
  • Effective date: The act takes effect 180 days after enactment.

Who is affected

  • Hospitals and other health care providers and entities (payers, insurers, third-party administrators) subject to data reporting and benchmark requirements.
  • The State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), School Employee Health Benefits Program, and other public health programs (through data collection and transparency requirements).
  • Consumers and patients, via enhanced price transparency, reduced growth in health care costs, and protections against aggressive debt collection for noncompliant hospitals.
  • Local governments, public purchasers, and small businesses through representation on the Commission and potential effects on pricing benchmarks.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Establishment: Creation of the Office and the Commission, with initial appointees and five-year terms.
  • Data collection and benchmarking: Office and Commission will define data submission schedules and implement benchmarks.
  • Annual reporting: Commission must prepare and submit an annual public report with data and policy recommendations.
  • Compliance enforcement: Progressive enforcement actions and civil penalties for noncompliance with benchmarks or corrective action plans.
  • Operating rules: The Health Commissioner will adopt regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act.
  • Enactment timing: Takes effect 180 days after enactment.

If you’d like, I can extract specific sections to compare with current NJ law or provide a quick one-page briefing for policymakers.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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