ASSEMBLY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND INSURANCE
COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4848
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: DECEMBER 9, 2024
The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee
reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No.
4848.
As amended, this bill requires a physician, registered
professional nurse, physician assistant, or prenatal care provider, as
appropriate, to assess each pregnant person to whom the physician,
nurse, physician assistant, or prenatal care provider provides health
care services for possible risk factors of lead exposure and elevated
blood lead levels. If the assessment identifies at least one risk
factor in accordance with the most recent recommendations of the
federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the
physician, nurse, physician assistant, or prenatal care provider is to
perform lead screening, as defined in the bill, on the patient in the
first and third trimesters.
If the physician, registered professional nurse, physician
assistant or prenatal care provider cannot perform the required lead
screening, the physician, nurse, physician assistant, or prenatal care
provider may refer the patient to another physician, nurse, physician
assistant, or prenatal care provider who is able to perform the lead
screening.
The bill stipulates that if a physician, registered professional
nurse, physician assistant, or prenatal care provider receives
laboratory test results indicating that the pregnant person has an
elevated blood lead level, the physician, nurse, physician assistant,
or prenatal care provider is to: notify the patient about the test
results; provide the patient with an explanation of the significance
of lead poisoning and information concerning the specific dangers
of lead poisoning during a pregnancy; provide the patient with
information on how to access lead assistance programs offered by
the Department of Community Affairs; and ensure that any of the
patient’s children or other members of the patient’s household
under the age of six are, or have been, screened for lead exposure. 2
A physician, registered professional nurse, physician assistant, or
prenatal care provider is: (1) prohibited from conducting lead
screening if the patient objects to the testing in writing; and (2) to
comply with the blood sample collection requirements specified in
section 4 of P.L.1995, c.328 (C.26:2-137.5).
The bill requires a laboratory which performs a lead screening
test to report the test results to the Department of Health (DOH), the
local health department in the municipality in which the pregnant
person resides, and the physician, registered professional nurse,
physician assistant, or prenatal care provider that submitted the
specimen, within five business days of obtaining the test result.
A record of all lead screenings conducted under the bill is to be
included in the central database maintained by the DOH as required
under section 5 of P.L. 1995, c.328 (C.26:2-137.6). The
information reported to and compiled by the DOH is confidential,
except that statistical reports may be made available using
information compiled from the database, excluding personal
identifying information.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) include physician assistants and prenatal care providers within
the lead screening, testing, and notice requirements of the bill;
(2) require physicians, registered professional nurses, physician
assistants, and prenatal care providers to perform a lead screening in
the first and third trimester of a pregnancy, if the pregnant person
presents at least one risk factor for lead poisoning; and
(3) make certain technical changes.