

HPAE's efforts have resulted in the passage of precedent-setting legislation, which protects our patients and our professions. That legislation includes:
- Violence in the Workplace
- Safe Lift
- Paid Family Leave
- Public Disclosure
- Mandatory Overtime
- The 'Baby Bill'
- 'Whistleblower Protection'
- The Health Care Quality Act (For more information on patients rights under NJ laws, click here.)
- 'Needle-Safety' (For more information on needle safety, and/or info on safe needle systems, click here.)
- A2606 (Wagner/Conaway) Requires training for all trustees of general hospitals.
- A2607 (Green/Conaway) Requires each general hospital to annually conduct public meetings for the community it serves.
- A2608 (Conaway/Caputo) Authorizes enhanced DHSS monitoring of hospital financial performance and intervention in management of identified distressed hospitals.
- A2609 (Conaway) Prohibits hospitals from charging certain uninsured persons more than 10% greater than applicable Medicare rate.
HPAE also works through our national organization, AFT, on federal legislation - supporting the real Patient Bill of Rights, and federal Needle-Safety.

HPAE members formed a "Committee on Political Education" to educate our elected officials about what is really going on in the health care system - and to fight for change. COPE organizes grass-roots mobilization efforts to win important legislation - and tracks the voting records of our state and federal legislators on HPAE issues. Using this information, COPE also interviews and screens candidates for office, making recommendations to HPAE members.
Through COPE, HPAE members have been instrumental in the drafting of new legislation, in providing testimony before legislators and government officials, and in organizing letter-writing efforts to persuade elected officials to support HPAE legislation.
To find out more information about HPAE's COPE program or to join, please contact HPAE Public Policy Director Jeanne Otersen at 201-262-5005, or at jotersen@hpae.org.
