11-13-07 (A-0362-06T1)
The appellants-ambulatory care facilities (ACF) challenge
the validity of the Department of Health and Senior Services
regulations adopted to implement N.J.S.A. 26:2H-18.57 imposing
an assessment charged to certain ACFs. The revenues collected
from the assessment finance hospital charity care.
The assessment calculation is bottomed on an ACF's gross
receipts. Appellants sought to exclude from annual gross
receipts "pass through" payments made to independent contractors
and revenue for services other than those listed in the statute.
We conclude the Legislature purposely chose to use gross
receipts to calculate an ACF's assessment, rather than some
other calculation, such as adjusted gross income or net income.
The statute failed to provide for exclusions as proposed by
appellants. Thus, the agency's rulemaking falls within the
bounds of its statutory authority.
Finally, we reject appellants' constitutional challenge to
the regulation that uses a prior year's gross receipts to
compute the future year's assessment.
