Advocates Demand Action On Bill To Cap Soaring Hospital Costs In NJ

By Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor

November 21, 2025

Advocates fighting soaring hospital costs renewed their calls Wednesday for New Jersey lawmakers to pass legislation that would require price transparency, cap price hikes and bolster oversight of medical providers.

Legislators have less than two months to act on the bill, with the current legislative session set to end in January. Union leaders and other bill supporters gathered at the New Jersey League of Municipalities’ annual conference in Atlantic City to demand action.

“Hospital pricing is the fastest growing portion of the health care industry, outpacing even pharmaceuticals,” said Deborah Cornavaca of the New Jersey Education Association. “They far outpace the rate of inflation and certainly our wages. At this current trajectory, only the wealthiest will be able to afford health care in our nation. We do not accept that future.”

Under legislation introduced in February, hospitals and health care entities that ignore transparency requirements and yearly cost caps would have to follow a corrective action plan — or face civil penalties of $10 a day per bed and be barred from collecting medical debt from patients.

Advocates pointed to a settlement New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announced last week with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield as proof of why such accountability is overdue. The insurer will have to pay the state $100 million to resolve claims that it made false statements to win a contract managing the state’s public worker health plans and then ignored a contractual provision so it could overcharge the public plans.

“On the heels of this announcement, it is clear that we need to take action now to create a health care system in New Jersey that is affordable, transparent and accountable,” said Ana Maria Hill, New Jersey state director and vice president of the 32BJ SEIU union. “Even when the state did its best to protect consumers and establish cost-saving measures, Horizon blatantly disregarded their contractual obligation.”

Cornavaca also cited Gov. Phil Murphy’s medical debt relief initiative as evidence of a need for change. More than 780,000 New Jersey residents have had over $1.3 billion in medical debt forgiven in a partnership between the state and the national nonprofit Undue Medical Debt, according to an October announcement.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, who heads the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association, threw his support behind the bill too, saying exorbitant medical costs strain municipal budgets.

“As the mayor of Plainfield, budgeting is an important part of my job,” Mapp said. “We are putting the health care system on a budget.”

The New Jersey Hospital Association opposes the legislation and has blamed insurers for driving up medical costs.

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