In The News
Judge rules Franklin Lakes parents must pay surprise out-of-network medical bill
In a lawsuit that illustrates how inescapable surprise medical bills can be, a judge in Bergen County has sided with an anesthesiology practice that did not accept a patient’s insurance for emergency services at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and sued the patient for payment.
The judge found that the bill was reasonable and that the doctor had no obligation to figure out — “at midnight” — whether the patient’s insurance would cover the anesthesia she needed to deliver her baby.
NJ SPOTLIGHT: NARROW INSURANCE NETWORKS -- POPULAR IN NJ -- EXTEND TO RELATIVELY FEW PROVIDERS
New Jersey was among the states with the largest share of health insurance plans that offered relatively little choice of doctors to individual consumers, according to a new research brief.
Two of three New Jersey insurance networks that were studied included fewer than 25 percent of the doctors in the state, according to researchers with the University of Pennsylvania. Networks that extend to relatively few doctors are known as “narrow networks.”
N.J. moves to block Obama clean energy rules
The Christie administration on Wednesday officially moved to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's implementation of new clean-energy rules, blasting them as "unprecedented regulatory overreach."
Gov. Christie, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, announced his opposition to the rules immediately after President Obama unveiled them last month as part of an ambitious effort to combat climate change.
New Jersey has new child safety seat rules
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Parents have new rules to follow when driving with their children in New Jersey.
Child safety seat rules that take effect on Tuesday adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations.
N.J. owes $32M for improperly billing Medicaid for home health care, report says
TRENTON — The state improperly billed $32.2 million for home health services it could not document over a 3-1/2-year-period and should return the money to the federal government, according to a U.S. Office of Inspector General report released Monday.
A random audit of 100 claims submitted from 2008 to 2011 found 17 to be in error because they did not contain proper documentation, according to the report. The deficiencies included nurses not making required visits, companies using untrained home health aides, and failing to maintain patient files.
Burlington County's "ARC Tunnel"
Wherever a river bisects populated areas, adequate transportation between both banks is critical. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Christie administration's failure to alleviate the congestion across the Hudson River into Manhattan. But Burlington County has its own, albeit smaller, crisis where the Rancocas Creek cuts across the county.
The Centerton Bridge, which was built in 1903, carried 14,000 vehicles per day across the river between Willingboro and Mount Laurel. Earlier this year, the bridge was abruptly closed when it was determined to be unsafe for vehicular traffic. Even before the closure, the bridge was inadequate, with one narrow lane in each direction making navigating through opposing traffic a test of driving skills.
Federal appeals court rules against latest N.J. sports betting effort
Judges at the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in a 2-to-1 vote Tuesday against the legalization of sports betting in New Jersey, squashing the state's latest of several attempts at doing so and sending proponents back to the drawing board.
In oral arguments heard back in March, New Jersey made the case that, under a 2014 state law repealing all state prohibitions against sports betting, allowing wagering to begin on games would be in compliance with the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a 23-year-old federal law that limits sports betting to just four states, because it would not be regulating sports wagering, but rather just repealing the laws preventing casinos and racetracks from taking bets.
State, environmentalists clash over $225M Exxon settlement
TRENTON — After originally seeking $8.9 billion, New Jersey’s $225 million settlement with ExxonMobil over dozens of polluted sites is a reasonable compromise considering the substantial legal risks the state faced, a Superior Court judge in Burlington County ruled Tuesday in approving a deal that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration called historic and opponents called a sell-out.
Insurer, N.J. medical associations seek solution to surprise out-of-network medical bills
The state’s largest health insurance company and organizations representing doctors and hospitals have held private discussions over the summer about legislation to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. They haven’t hammered out a compromise yet over the toughest issue — how to determine how much to pay a provider who isn’t part of an insurance network — but one participant expressed optimism
Residents call on state to rebuild a scenic span
In April, following an inspection, Burlington County abruptly and indefinitely barred all traffic from the bridge. About 14,000 vehicles a day are being detoured onto 295.