Requires hospital laboratories and bio-analytical or clinical laboratories to offer test for hepatitis C to certain individuals; authorizes certain laboratories to perform rapid tests for hepatitis C.

This bill requires hospitals and clinical laboratories in New Jersey to offer hepatitis C screening tests to patients born between 1945 and 1965 during outpatient visits. It mandates that staff provide a written CDC policy statement about the testing and obtain patient consent before administering the test. The bill also ensures insurance coverage for the test at in-network rates (with no patient billing beyond standard copays), and excludes patients who have already been tested. This directly affects approximately 75% of the state’s estimated 3.2 million hepatitis C patients, targeting a high-risk age group identified by the CDC.