Health

Senator Barbara Buono has long been a champion of health care.

With spiraling health insurance costs squeezing everyone – from New Jersey’s working families to our small businesses – Senator Buono is fighting to reform the system so everyone has access to affordable, accessible quality care. This is especially true when it comes to the most vulnerable among us, and as a prime sponsor of "Grace’s Law," Senator Buono made sure that every New Jersey child under 15 years-old would be eligible for insurance coverage for hearing aids. She is also spearheading efforts to reform Medicaid disbursements to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

Senator Buono championed the Charity Care Fraud Prevention and Detection Act to add much-needed oversight and implement measures to prevent waste, fraud and abuse in the Hospital Care Payment Assistance Program. Her efforts will make sure that Charity Care goes to those who actually qualify, and that New Jersey taxpayers are not subsidizing fraudulent claims.

Knowing the strong negative effects of second-hand smoke, Senator Buono is continuing the fight to protect non-smokers in all public parks and beaches. She also wrote the law requiring hospitals to implement new infectious disease controls to eliminate the spread of drug resistant staph infections in hospitals. Senator Buono sponsored the law banning smoking in college and university dormitories. She was also the prime sponsor of the Stroke Centers Law requiring the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services to designate hospitals as primary or comprehensive stroke centers which provide complete and specialized care to patients who experience the most complex strokes.

As Chairwoman of the Budget & Appropriations Committee, Senator Buono sponsored the bill establishing a three-year medical home demonstration to provide enhanced access to primary care for Medicaid recipients. This comprehensive health care planning process includes a personalized partnership among the physician, patient and patient’s family, while providing improved access to preventive and primary medical services for the uninsured. This legislation will reduce the number of Emergency Room visits for primary care services, as well as the cost of those visits to the State and to taxpayers.

Senator Buono believes we should invest in medical research since new development holds the potential of saving millions of lives. In the state legislature, Buono was a prime sponsor of laws authorizing stem cell research and providing funding for construction of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.