a. The current population of adults 60 years of age and older in New Jersey is about 1.4 million, and this number is expected to double in size over the next 25 years;

b. A primary objective of public policy governing access to long-term care in this State shall be to promote the independence, dignity and lifestyle choice of older adults and persons with physical disabilities or Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders;

c. Many states are actively seeking to “rebalance” their long-term care programs and budgets in order to support consumer choice and offer more choices for older adults and persons with disabilities to live in their homes and communities;

d. New Jersey has been striving to redirect long-term care away from an over-reliance on institutional care toward more home and community-based options; however, it is still often easier for older adults and persons with disabilities to qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage if they are admitted to a nursing home than if they seek to obtain services through one of the Medicaid home and community-based long-term care options available in this State, such as the Global Options Waiver, Adult Day Health Services, Traumatic Brain Injury, AIDS Community Care Alternatives Program, Community Resources for People with Disabilities, or Community Resources for People with Disabilities Private Duty Nursing;

e. The federal “New Freedom Initiative” was launched in 2001 for the purpose of promoting the goal of independent living for persons with disabilities; and Executive Order No. 13217, issued by the President of the United States on June 18, 2001, called upon the federal government to assist states and localities to swiftly implement the 1999 United States Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. and directed federal agencies to evaluate their policies, programs, statutes, and regulations to determine whether any should be revised or modified to improve the availability of community-based services for qualified persons with disabilities;

f. Executive Order No. 100, issued by the Governor on March 23, 2004, directed the Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the State Treasurer, to prepare an analysis and recommendations for developing a global long-term care budgeting process designed to provide the Department of Health with the authority and flexibility to move Medicaid recipients into the appropriate level of care based on their individual needs, and to identify specific gaps and requirements necessary to streamline paperwork and expedite the process of obtaining Medicaid eligibility for home care options for those who qualify;

g. Executive Order No. 31, issued by the Governor on April 21, 2005, established a “money follows the person” pilot program and set aside funding in fiscal year 2006 for home and community-based long-term care;

h. Older adults and those with physical disabilities or Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders that require a nursing facility level of care should not be forced to choose between going into a nursing home or giving up the medical assistance that pays for their needed services, and thereby be denied the right to choose where they receive those services; their eligibility for home and community-based long-term care services under Medicaid should be based upon the same income and asset standards as those used to determine eligibility for long-term care in an institutional setting; and

i. The enactment of P.L.2006, c.23 (C. 30:4D-17.23 et seq.) will ensure that, in the case of Medicaid-funded long-term care services, “the money follows the person” to allow maximum flexibility between nursing homes and home and community-based settings when it does not compromise federal funding or services in the nursing home and, in so doing, significantly expands the choices available to consumers of these services and thereby fulfills the goal of personal independence so highly valued by the growing number of older adults and persons with disabilities in this State.

L.2006, c.23, s.2; amended 2012, c.17, s.373.