NJDOH Proposes to Readopt, with Amendments, Repeals, Recodifications, and New Rules, N.J.A.C. 8:61, AIDS Drug Distribution Program and Health Insurance Premium Payment Program,[...]

The New Jersey Department of Health is proposing to readopt, with amendments, repeals, recodifications, and new rules, N.J.A.C. 8:61, AIDS Drug Distribution Program and Health Insurance Premium Payment Program; HIV Screening of Pregnant Persons and Newborns for HIV Infection.

The chapter establishes the application processes and eligibility criteria by which the Department administers the AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP) and the Health Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP) program, and enrolls financially eligible persons who have HIV infection in these programs, to facilitate their continued access to appropriate medications and health care providers to treat their HIV infection, and thereby help to prevent further spread of this illness. The Department is proposing amendments, repeals, recodifications, and new rules to reorganize the chapter, update references to publications incorporated by reference, promulgate forms that applicants for participation in the ADDP and the HIPP program are to submit to the Department, and reorganize and restate the application processes for these programs, including the financial eligibility standards.

The chapter also establishes standards by which health care providers are to perform HIV screening and testing of every pregnant person, absent refusal, and every newborn infant, when the infant's delivering parent's HIV status is positive or unknown upon delivery. Screening a pregnant person before delivery and a newborn at delivery enables their care teams to implement prophylactic measures to prevent transmission of HIV to a newborn during delivery and/or promptly initiate treatment of the newborn upon delivery.

The Department is proposing to repeal a subchapter that addresses participation and attendance at school by individuals with HIV infection. The subchapter is superfluous of, and potentially inconsistent with, superseding State and Federal laws, and their implementing rules and regulations, which prohibit discrimination in places of public accommodation based on a person's HIV status, such as the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act, among others.

The Department is also proposing to repeal a subchapter addressing disclosure to full-time caregivers about the health status of children who have HIV infection and are under the care and jurisdiction of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF). Other State and Federal laws requiring protection of the confidentiality, and regulating authorized disclosure, of individually identifiable health information preempt this subchapter and render it unnecessary. In addition, the subchapter may conflict with superseding and more specific operating policies and procedures of the DCF that apply to disclosures of health information relating to children in its care.

The Notice of Proposal appears in the August 19, 2024, issue of the New Jersey Register. Persons wishing to comment on the proposal must submit written comments either electronically by October 18, 2024, to https://www.nj.gov/health/legal/rules/notice-of-rule-proposals/ecomments.shtml or by regular mail postmarked on or before October 18, 2024, to Kimberly E. Jenkins, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.

LexisNexis^® provides free online access to the New Jersey Register at www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/njoal. An unofficial copy of the proposal is also available from the Department's website at http://www.nj.gov/health/legal/rules.