Congratulations to Dr. Poonum Alaigh on her nomination to join the Christie Administration as commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services.

NJHA has enjoyed an open and engaging relationship with the Christie team during the transition phase and looks forward to continuing this healthy give-and-take with Dr. Alaigh. Like the Christie Administration, we share a commitment to ensuring that accessible and quality healthcare remains available to residents throughout our state and that our healthcare system remains well prepared for the public health challenges of the 21^st century.

Many of you have expressed a desire to come together as a healthcare community to help the victims of the Haitian earthquake. After reaching out to the American Hospital Association, we agree that the most expedient way to help is through an already established relief organization. The federal government’s US Aid service www.USAid.gov is leading an assistance effort, as are many other worthy organizations such as the American Red Cross. We encourage you to support the cause of your choosing, and thank you once again for demonstrating the caring and compassion of New Jersey’s healthcare community.

In addition, we extend our great respect and appreciation to the New Jersey hospitals, physicians and other providers who are already mobilizing efforts to share their clinical expertise by sending support teams to the ravaged nation.

There have been some news headlines recently about hospital “charges.” Chances are you’re not affected by this issue, because only about 4 percent of patient cases are actually affected by these charges. It’s complicated, but it’s important to remember that what a hospital lists as its charges and what it actually gets paid for its healthcare services are two very different things. Charges are like the “list price” for hospital services. In all but a very small number of situations, those list prices are ratcheted down dramatically by insurance companies or government health programs.

For example, government programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the state’s charity care program all pay hospitals less than their costs for the care they provide to patients in those three programs. Yes, hospitals lose money when they care for a patient on Medicare, Medicaid and charity care. HMOs and other insurance companies also try to drive down payments to hospitals.

Unfortunately, hospitals’ high charges are the result of a broken system in which no one wants to pay their fair share for healthcare services. Hospitals have worked hard to address this problem by voluntarily adopting billing and payment policies that offer patients discounts on charges, along with workable payment arrangements. In addition, state law limits hospital billing amounts for almost all New Jerseyans except those with high earnings.

Hospital leaders agree that our healthcare system isn’t perfect and that high healthcare costs are a worry for everyone. We’re hoping that those problems will be addressed by a meaningful healthcare reform bill in Congress that provides insurance to more individuals. But until then, New Jersey’s hospitals will continue to do their part by providing healthcare services to everyone who comes through our doors, regardless of their ability to pay.

Thanks to every member of the Senate Health Committee that voted unanimous approval of a package of bills that will help our state’s mentally ill population. This legislation will go a long way toward addressing the plight of behavioral health patients who often wait countless hours, sometimes days, in hospital Emergency Departments awaiting transfer to an appropriate behavioral health setting.

I testified before Committee members on the need for these bills, S-2444, S-2445 and S-2446, sponsored by Sen. Richard Codey. NJHA has surveyed hospitals across the state and has found that we have patients – children and adults alike – sometimes waiting in the ED for up to five days awaiting placement into appropriate levels of behavioral care.

Thank you to Committee Chairman Joe Vitale (D), Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D), Sen. Diane Allen (R), Sen. Bill Baroni (R), Sen. Bob Gordon (D), Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R), Sen. Dana Redd (D), Sen. Ron Rice (D), Sen. Bob Singer (R) and Sen. Jim Whelan (D) for their support. Thanks also to all of those in the provider community who provided testimony in support of these important bills, including South Jersey Healthcare, Hunterdon Healthcare System, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, SomersetMedicalCenter, KimballMedicalCenter and Saint Peter’s UniversityHospital.

The behavioral health patient population needs a wide range of programs to meet their needs. Hospital emergency rooms are not the best place for this fragile population. They are busy, intense places. These bills supported by NJHA are not asking for additional resources. Instead we are asking the state to improve its coordinated efforts to help hospitals locate placements for behavioral health patients, streamline processes to move patients more quickly to an appropriate setting and give providers a snapshot of what behavioral health services are currently available across the state. These are fundamental measures that the state must take, or our fragile behavioral health population will continue to wait – and that isn’t right.

These measures have already passed in the Assembly and now with the vote of the Senate Health Committee, they await a vote by the full Senate before reaching the Governor’s desk. Call your local Senator and urge that they ask Senate President Codey to post these bills during the lame duck session of the legislature!

I just testified at a Senate Health Committee hearing in support of three bills that will help our state’s mentally ill population. Believe it or not, in our great state we have patients – children and adults alike – waiting in our hospital emergency departments for placement into appropriate levels of behavioral care – sometimes up to five days.

The behavioral health patient population needs a wide range of programs to meet their needs. Hospital emergency rooms are not the best place for this fragile population. They are busy, intense places. The bills NJHA supports are not asking for additional resources. Instead we are asking the state to improve its coordinated efforts to help hospitals locate placements for behavioral health patients, streamline processes to move patients more quickly to an appropriate setting and give providers a snapshot of what behavioral health services are currently available across the state. These are fundamental measures that the state must take, or our fragile behavioral health population will continue to wait – and that isn’t right.