New Jersey will soon launch a Medicaid accountable-care organization pilot that will demonstrate whether getting doctors, hospitals and other professionals working together can both improve patient health and rein in millions of dollars in avoidable hospital admissions and emergency room visits.

The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee Tuesday voted to release S-2644, a bill to expand Medicaid eligibility in the state to residents earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line. The federal government will pick up the cost of that expansion for three years, and 90 percent of the costs the following three years.

Gov. Chris Christie's veto of a bill Monday requiring contracts involving lottery privatization be approved by legislators was quickly denounced by the bill's supporters, who called the action a setback for government transparency.

Gov. Chris Christie on Monday conditionally vetoed the so-called “Facebook bill” that would limit the amount of information job candidates would have to disclose to prospective employers of their social media activity.

Lakeland Bancorp Inc. announced Monday it has received approval from the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance of the proposed merger with Somerset Hills Bancorp, and of the merger of the bank subsidiaries.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the owners of storm-damaged small businesses had a long list of needs, but at the top was grant money.

Citing declining activity, the Small Business Administration is closing eight disaster assistance loan centers in New Jersey today that temporarily opened last fall to process emergency requests after Hurricane Sandy.

Health care providers are among the organizations gearing up to apply for the $1.5 million in grants the federal government will award this summer to “navigators” who will help enroll the uninsured in subsidized health insurance and in Medicaid in 2014, when the major provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act kick in.