(TRENTON) – Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Chairman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic/Bergen/Essex) released the following statement Monday after the panel held for further consideration legislation (A-3378) that would bring transparency, disclosure and quality assessments to the health care marketplace and cut costs for consumers and businesses:
“New Jersey is facing many issues of concern, but one of the top issues facing New Jersey businesses and residents are out-of-control health care costs that stifle economic growth and personal prosperity.
“This legislation seeks to give New Jerseyans the information necessary to make informed and financially prudent decisions regarding their own medical care. By informing health care consumers of their own financial responsibility should they choose to go out-of-network and asking physicians to disclose, in full, the patient’s financial responsibility before a procedure, we can help New Jerseyans make the right choices.
“Our current byzantine system benefits no one.
“I urge everyone involved – from Republicans to businesses to consumer protection groups – to commit to using this legislation as the starting point to give New Jersey businesses and consumers the disclosure and transparency needed to make informed medical decisions.”