Hospitals would pay the higher fee and could pass costs to insurers or families. Public comments are due Nov. 20.
MORRISTOWN, NJ – The New Jersey Department of Health is proposing to raise its newborn bloodspot screening laboratory fee from $150 to $260, a $110 increase, according to a notice released Sept. 21.
The proposed change would increase the fee by approximately 73.3%. The department said the previous increase was adopted in 2017.
The proposal concerns the charge assessed for the state laboratory’s panel of newborn screening tests under N.J.A.C. 8:45-2.1. It is a proposed regulatory amendment, not an announcement that the higher fee has taken effect.
The full proposal explains that hospitals currently pay the fee through purchases of newborn screening kits. Some facilities may pass the increase to insurers, parents or Charity Care; facilities without reimbursement would absorb the cost. The proposal does not establish a uniform increase in what individual families would owe.
The department estimates its current screening and follow-up cost at $184.37 per sample, using an assumption of 98,000 births annually. That exceeds the existing fee. It says the proposed increase would also finance equipment, staffing, facility improvements and preparation for additional screening conditions.
The proposal says about 250 newborns annually receive a confirmed diagnosis of a condition on the screening panel, while just under 10,000 have abnormal results requiring follow-up. Those figures illustrate why the program’s work extends beyond the initial laboratory test.
Newborn bloodspot screening checks for conditions that may require care before symptoms become apparent. The state’s program overview says New Jersey screens newborns for 61 disorders using blood collected through a heel prick.
The program includes laboratory testing, follow-up and referral for specialist evaluation and treatment when needed. The department says early identification can help prevent serious disabilities and life-threatening complications associated with disorders on the screening panel.
The state’s guidance for parents and clinicians calls for collection 24 to 48 hours after birth. It advises parents to ask their baby’s doctor for the results, which may be available as early as the one-week checkup, and to arrange a requested repeat test promptly.
A screening result is not a diagnosis. The department cautions that screening may not identify every affected infant and does not replace a clinician’s evaluation.
Written comments on the fee proposal are due Nov. 20. The announcement directs electronic submissions to the department’s rule-comment address. Comments may also be mailed, with a Nov. 20 postmark, to Kimberly Jenkins, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.
The department identifies the Sept. 21 New Jersey Register as the publication containing the formal notice. Its announcement does not provide an adoption date for the proposed fee.