New and changing law
New Jersey's 2025 patient-brokering law, explained
A stiffer crime, a wider net, and a marketing lawsuit that skips the prosecutor.
On August 11, 2025 New Jersey signed A3973/S3952, rewriting N.J.S.A. 2C:40A-6 to make paying or taking a fee for a substance use disorder referral a third-degree crime, adding a mandatory 50,000 dollar fine per violation, and pulling recovery residences and clinical laboratories inside the ban. Companion A3974 opened a private lawsuit for deceptive treatment marketing.
New Jersey already made it a crime to buy or sell a substance use disorder treatment referral; what changed is the reach and the price. On August 11, 2025, the state signed A3973/S3952, which rewrote N.J.S.A. 2C:40A-6 and took effect the day the governor signed it. First, the crime went up a grade, from fourth-degree to third-degree, carrying three to five years and a mandatory 50,000 dollar fine per violation, plus restitution to the affected patient or insurer. Second, the amendment widened its coverage: it now names recovery residences and clinical laboratories alongside licensed treatment providers, and it reaches remuneration paid directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, including money paid in exchange for a patient using the services, not only a formal referral.
No person, including a health care provider, health care facility, clinical laboratory, or recovery residence, shall knowingly solicit, receive, offer, or pay any fee, commission, rebate, or other remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce the referral of a patient to a licensed substance use disorder treatment provider or facility, a recovery residence, or a clinical laboratory, or in exchange for a patient using those services.
- Third-degree crimePaying or taking a referral fee is now a third-degree offense under N.J.S.A. 2C:40A-6, punishable by three to five years and a mandatory 50,000 dollar fine per violation, plus restitution.
- Net widenedThe amendment adds recovery residences and clinical laboratories to the ban and reaches direct or indirect, cash or in-kind pay, including pay for a patient using the services, not just a formal referral.
- Marketing lawsuitThe companion law A3974 lets a person harmed by deceptive treatment marketing sue for treble damages and attorney fees, a civil track that does not wait on a prosecutor.
The statute does not stop at the treatment center; it speaks to any person who pays or takes the tainted remuneration, so a marketing vendor that bills per admission, per lead, or per intake for New Jersey placements is describing the exact conduct the section criminalizes. What the invoice says does not decide the question; the structure of the pay does. The safe harbor is narrow: compensation is exempt only when it does not vary with the number of referrals, the volume of services provided, or the amount of insurance benefits a patient carries. A flat fee for work performed survives; a bonus that moves with admissions does not. If your New Jersey engagement routes clients to a named center, a recovery residence, or a lab and your pay tracks that flow, the exposure is yours too, not only your client's.
Signed the same day, A3974/S3955 attacks the other half, deceptive treatment marketing. It targets false or misleading statements about a provider's identity, affiliation, services, or location, the classic dress-up of a call center posing as a neutral helpline, and it creates a private right of action with treble damages and attorney fees, so a person harmed can sue without waiting on a prosecutor. For an agency, the brokering statute is the criminal risk and A3974 is the civil one, and a single deceptive New Jersey campaign can trip both at once.
The scanner cannot read your contract, but it reads the pricing a pitch advertises. Volume-based referral pay aimed at New Jersey treatment is the line that flags.
We pay our marketing partners 500 dollars for every admission they send us.
Volume-based pay for referrals to a treatment facility is the exact conduct EKRA prosecutes; calling it a marketing fee does not cure it.
Our marketing partners earn a fixed monthly fee that does not change with volume.
Fixed pay untied to the number or value of patients is the safe structure under EKRA.
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Pre-Trip is a rigorous screen, not legal advice. Counsel decides; we help you arrive prepared.