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New Jersey will launch a Medicaid community-based palliative care benefit in 2026, creating a critical opportunity to expand high-quality supportive care for people living with serious illness. The state faces a rapidly growing level of need: by 2030, more than 1.85 million residents – over 20% of the population – will be age 65 or older, most managing multiple chronic conditions at home. Many of these individuals currently lack advance care plans, goals-of-care conversations, and awareness of community-based palliative care services that can prevent crises, emergency visits, and hospitalizations. The session will describe what palliative care is, the benefit it provides for patients and families, and how it differs from hospice – addressing a common source of confusion that limits appropriate use. It will also examine the current state of palliative care in New Jersey, highlighting gaps in provider capacity and disparities in availability by geography, language, and cultural alignment.

An overview of the new Medicaid palliative care benefit will be provided, including eligible members, covered services, provider qualifications, and requirements for enrollment and credentialing. The presentation will illustrate how the benefit is designed to improve access, standardize expectations, and promote earlier, more equitable delivery of palliative care across diverse settings. GOCCNJ’s efforts to prepare providers, patients, and families for this transition will also be shared, including education, communication tools, provider training, and community outreach. The session will highlight both opportunities and implementation challenges, offering practical insights for leaders and professionals across the aging services continuum – including senior living, affordable senior housing, long-term care, hospice, home- and community-based services, and related fields – who are committed to improving access to high-quality palliative care.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate palliative care from hospice by identifying key features, goals, and care approaches
• Evaluate current gaps in New Jersey’s palliative care capacity
• Apply knowledge of the Medicaid community-based palliative care benefit structure to prepare organizations for implementation and improved integration of palliative care across the continuum of aging services

Registration & Continuing Education Info

Complimentary!

This program has been approved for Continuing Education for 1 total participant hours by NAB/NCERS—Approval # 20270330-1-A119188-DL

To receive continuing education credit for LeadingAge New Jersey & Delaware sponsored webinars, attendees must register under their name, participate through the link supplied after registering and complete the evaluation after the webinar.

Speaker Information:

Lori Feldstein, CEO & Executive Director, Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey

Lori Feldstein is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Goals of Care Coalition of New Jersey (GOCCNJ). Under her direction, GOCCNJ has become a recognized statewide leader in advancing equitable access to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care. Lori has led the organization’s advocacy, research, and education efforts, including successful initiatives to reduce disparities, promote equity, and support the development and implementation of New Jersey’s first Medicaid Community-Based Palliative Care benefit, designed to expand access to supportive care for the state’s most vulnerable residents and their unpaid caregivers. In her role, Lori also oversees GOCCNJ’s research programs that identify unmet needs in serious-illness care and guides statewide education campaigns to increase awareness of advance care planning, palliative care, and hospice services among healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers. Her leadership in these areas has positioned New Jersey as a national model for collaborative, person-centered care. Motivated by her personal experience as a family caregiver, Lori has been steadfast in her commitment to changing the culture surrounding serious-illness care. She has witnessed firsthand how challenging these experiences can be for patients and loved ones and remains determined to ensure that every individual receives the care they need and no less, and the care they want and no more  – through open, ongoing, and compassionate communication between providers and patients. Before joining GOCCNJ, Lori founded Cogent Medical Marketing in Princeton, New Jersey, where she developed and implemented strategic marketing and communications initiatives for the pharmaceutical and life-sciences industries. Her work focused on market access, key opinion leader engagement, stakeholder relations, medical education, and advocacy, experience that continues to inform her approach to healthcare innovation and coalition building. Lori serves as Chair of the Foundation Board for Penn Medicine Princeton Health, where she leads efforts to advance philanthropy in support of the new Penn Medicine Princeton Cancer Center. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Penn Medicine Princeton Health, the Dean’s Leadership Council at the Rutgers School of Public Health, and the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC). Nationally, she serves on the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and on the boards of AJC’s Center for the New Middle East and Africa Institute.  Lori is a graduate of Muhlenberg College. She and her husband, Michael, live in Princeton, New Jersey, and are the proud parents of three adult children, all of whom live and work in New York City.