Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington)
Assemblywoman YVONNE LOPEZ
District 19 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Stanley, Assemblywomen Jaffer and McKnight
SYNOPSIS
Requires health insurers to cover self-measured blood pressure monitoring for subscribers with preeclampsia; requires health care professionals to provide home blood pressure monitor to pregnant patients diagnosed with preeclampsia.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning preeclampsia and blood pressure monitoring and supplementing various parts of statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares:
a. Preeclampsia is a rapidly progressive increase in blood pressure that occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Although this high blood pressure usually goes away after birth, it is dangerous for both the mother and baby and can lead to life-threatening complications.
b. The condition can keep the baby from getting proper amounts of blood and oxygen from the mother. Preeclampsia can also cause the mother to have serious problems with her brain, liver, and kidneys. The most severe cases of preeclampsia can lead to seizures.
c. The rate of preeclampsia in the United States has increased in the last two decades and is a leading cause of maternal and infant illness and death. Currently, preeclampsia affects 5 to 8 percent of pregnant women, or approximately 5,000 to 8,000 individuals in New Jersey annually.
d. Monitoring blood pressure is therefore an essential part of prenatal and postpartum care.
e. Self-measured blood pressure monitoring in a patients home can be particularly critical in the case of masked hypertension, where blood pressure levels are elevated at home despite normal blood pressure in a clinical setting. In addition, sudden rises in blood pressure can threaten pregnant women between prenatal appointments or if they have limited access to healthcare;
f. Access to blood pressure measurement devices or limited knowledge on how to utilize a device should not be barriers to home-based monitoring. Early detection of high blood pressure in pregnancy may improve outcomes and prevent the maternal and neonatal morbidities associated with preeclampsia; and
g. Providing pregnant patients in New Jersey with home blood pressure measurement monitors and the training to use such a monitor is a simple, low cost tool to significantly improve maternal outcomes in the State.
2. a. A hospital service corporation which provides hospital or medical expense benefits under a contract that is delivered, issued, executed, or renewed in this State or approved for issuance or renewal in this State by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, on or after the effective date of this act, shall provide coverage for self-measured blood pressure monitoring for any subscriber who is diagnosed with preeclampsia, which coverage shall include the provision of a validated home blood pressure monitor and the reimbursement of provider time used to educate and train the subscriber on the proper use of the blood pressure monitor, to transmit blood pressure data from the subscribers blood pressure monitor, and to interpret blood pressure data from the subscribers blood pressure monitor.
b. This benefit shall be provided to the same extent as for any other medical condition under the contract.
c. This section shall apply to those hospital service corporation contracts in which the hospital service corporation has reserved the right to change the premium.
d. As used in this section,
Preeclampsia means a high blood pressure disorder that can occur during or after pregnancy and may include, but is by no means limited to, high levels of protein in the patients urine and other signs of organ damage.
Self-measured blood pressure monitoring means the regular measurement of blood pressure by a patient outside the clinical setting, either at home or elsewhere, requiring the use of a home blood pressure measurement device by the patient.
Validated home blood measurement monitor means a blood pressure measurement device that has been validated for accuracy and is listed in the United States Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing.
3. a. A medical service corporation which provides hospital or medical expense benefits under a contract that is delivered, issued, executed, or renewed in this State or approved for issuance or renewal in this State by the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, on or after the effective date of this act, shall provide coverage for self-measured blood pressure monitoring for any subscriber who is diagnosed with preeclampsia, which coverage shall include the provision of a validated home blood pressure monitor and the reimbursement of provider time used to educate and train the subscriber on the proper use of the blood pressure monitor, to transmit blood pressure data from the subscribers blood pressure monitor, and to interpret blood pressure data from the subscribers blood pressure monitor.
b. This benefit shall be provided to the same extent as for any other medical condition under the contract.
c. This section shall apply to those medical service corporation contracts in which the medical service corporation has reserved the right to change the premium.
d. As used in this section,
Preeclampsia means a high blood pressure disorder that can occur during or after pregnancy and may include, but is by no means limited to, high levels of protein in the patients urine and other signs of organ damage.
Self-measured blood pressure monitoring means the regular measurement of blood pressure by a patient outside the clinical setting, either at home or elsewhere, requiring the use of a home blood pressure measurement device by the patient.
Validated home blood measurement monitor means a blood pressure measurement device that has been validated for accuracy and is listed in the United States Blood Pressure Validated Device Listing