Reconstructive Surgery Bill Arrives In N.J. State Senate

NU Online News Service, Oct. 8, 2:45 p.m. State Senators Diane B. Allen (R- Burlington) and Joseph M. Kyrillos (R-Middletown) have filed a bill, S2651, that would require hospital, medical and health service corporations, individual and small and large group commercial insurers and HMOs to provide health care services for reconstructive surgery and related treatments. Among procedures covered are prosthetic management and dental procedures to correct or repair abnormal structures of the body caused by congenital defects, developmental deformities, trauma, infections, tumors or disease, in order to improve function or to create, as much as possible, a “normal” appearance.

The bill is similar to an Assembly bill introduced in June by Assemblymen Francis J. Blee (R-Egg Harbor) and Melvin Cottrell (R-Jackson).