New Jersey S 558: Creates Office of Licensing, Grant-making, Approvals and Permitting Efficiency Ombudsman and establishes task force on feasibility of online State permit and approval transactions.

Bill Text

S558 

SENATE, No. 558 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator JAMES BEACH

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes tuition reimbursement program for certain 
advanced practice nurses who provide home health care services.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act establishing a tuition reimbursement program for 
certain advanced practice nurses who provide home health care services and 
supplementing chapter 71C of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.� 

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Authority� means the Higher 
Education Student Assistance Authority.

���� �Eligible tuition expenses� 
means tuition expenses that were incurred by a program participant in attending 
an accredited advanced practice nurse program, and which were not covered by 
any grants or scholarships.

���� �Home health care services� 
means nursing and other home health care services rendered at a patient�s place 
of residence. 

���� �Program� means the tuition 
reimbursement program for advanced practice nurses established pursuant to this 
act.

���� �Program participant� means an 
individual who is certified by the New Jersey Board of Nursing as an advanced 
practice nurse, and who contracts with the authority to provide home health 
care services in return for tuition reimbursement provided under the program.

���� 2.��� a.� There is established 
in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority a tuition reimbursement 
program for advanced practice nurses who provide home health care services.� 
The program shall provide reimbursement to program participants for a portion 
of the eligible tuition expenses incurred by the participant in attending an 
accredited advanced practice nurse program.

���� b.��� A program participant 
shall enter into a contract with the authority for a specified number of 
one-year periods of service, up to four years, in which the participant agrees 
to engage in the full-time practice of providing home health care services in 
the State.� The agreement shall specify the program participant�s dates of 
required service and the total amount of reimbursement of eligible tuition 
expenses to be received by the participant in return for service.

���� c.���� The tuition 
reimbursement for a participant under the program shall equal 25 percent of the 
participant�s eligible tuition expenses for the one academic year of an 
advanced practice nurse program in which tuition was the lowest, in return for 
each full year of service satisfactorily completed by the participant under the 
program.� The total tuition reimbursement amount for a program participant, for 
four full years of service, shall not exceed 100 percent of the participant�s 
eligible tuition expenses for the one academic year of an advanced practice 
nurse program in which tuition was the lowest.

���� 3.��� To be eligible to 
participate in the program, an applicant shall:

���� a.���� be a resident of New 
Jersey;

���� b.��� be certified by the New 
Jersey Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse;

���� c.���� have received 
specialized education or training in providing home health care services;

���� d.��� apply for the program 
within one year of obtaining certification as an advanced practice nurse; and

���� e.���� agree to engage in the 
full-time practice of providing home health care services in the State for a 
period of one to four years in return for the tuition reimbursement provided 
under the program.

���� 4.��� The contract entered 
into between a program participant and the authority pursuant to section 2 of 
this act shall require a program participant to:

���� a.���� charge for professional 
services at the usual and customary rate prevailing in the area in which the 
patient resides, but allow a patient who is unable to pay that charge to pay at 
a reduced rate or receive care at no charge;

���� b.��� not discriminate against 
any patient in the provision of home health care services on the basis of that 
person�s ability to pay or source of payment; and

���� c.���� agree not to impose any 
charge in excess of the limiting fee for a service, as determined by the United 
States Secretary of Health and Human Services, to a recipient of benefits under 
the federal Medicare program established pursuant to Pub.L.89-97 (42 U.S.C. 
s.1395 et seq.).

���� 5.��� A program participant, 
as a condition of participation, shall be required to adhere to performance 
standards established by the authority.� The standards shall include, but not 
be limited to, requirements that a program participant:

���� a.���� maintain residency in 
the State;

���� b.��� maintain certification 
to practice as an advanced practice nurse in the State;

���� c.���� remain current with 
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