With New Jersey surrounded by renowned medical institutions in New York and Pennsylvania, state lawmakers are considering giving Garden State hospitals an advantage by passing a law that would make it more difficult to refer patients to hospitals outside the state.

But despite its crusading name, the “Patient Protection Act” was called a “bad bill” by Maura Collinsgru, health care program director for New Jersey Citizen Action, one of the state’s most prominent consumer advocacy groups.

“This seems to be a protectionist bill for hospitals in New Jersey, and we are actively working to stop this bill,” she said.

And the second-highest ranking member of the Senate, Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said on Monday she was “absolutely against it...The last thing patients need is more paperwork."

Other consumer advocates and lawmakers who want to remain on the sidelines privately say they believe the bill was conceived, at least in part, for Cooper University Hospital in Camden, located in the competitive Philadelphia-south Jersey market. Cooper board Chairman, George Norcross III, is an adviser to and friend of Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, who is one of the bill’s prime sponsors.

Sweeney did not return a call seeking comment. Cooper has not publicly advocated for the bill, although the CEOs of the largest hospital chains, Hackensack Meridian Health, RWJBarnabas Health and Atlantic Health System, have.

The legislation would require doctors referring a patient out of state to provide in writing why the transfer was clinically necessary and whether “clinically-appropriate services” were available in-state. If the patient was unconscious or unable to communicate, the doctor would provide the information to the next-of-kin.

Hospitals outside the state would be required to notify the patient’s insurance carrier about whether the facility is in-network and any estimated out-of-pocket costs the patient would incur, according to the legislation.

“Patients have rights that should be recognized and respected,” Sweeney said in a statement after a Senate committee approved the bill June 3. “They and their families should be fully informed in advance about decisions that have a direct impact on the type of care they will receive, what it will cost and how it will affect their quality of life.”

Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, also a Senate sponsor, did not return a call seeking comment. But in the same statement issued by Sweeney, Singleton said the bill would help patients and families and they "should be provided with all the information they need to make the right decisions and to prepare for the change, including costs and other options.”

Collinsgru of Citizen Action said there is no data to support the bill solves a significant problem patients are facing. She also noted that some of the same hospitals fighting to place more obstacles on out-of-state care actively fought against the out-of-network bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed last year that required hospitals and doctors to disclose their network status and costs.

"This bill does nothing to add value to the out-of-network’' law, she said. “These decisions should be driven by the patient’s network of insurance, and the relationship between the patient and doctor.”

The bill introduced last month appeared to be gaining momentum until Thursday, when it was not listed on either the state Senate or Assembly’s busy pre-summer agendas.

Representatives for Murphy and Sweeney, who are almost always at odds over their competing agendas, are negotiating privately to see if a compromise could be reached that would compel the governor to sign it into law, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.

The bill (A5369) is listed on the Assembly’s agenda for Thursday, but not on the Senate’s calendar, although that could change.

Complicating the political calculus is that Sweeney has decided that the out-of-state transfer bill would move in tandem with another hospital-related bill supported by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, according to legislative sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That bill (A3769) would expand the number of hospitals permitted by the state Health Department to perform angioplasty, a routine but potentially lifesaving procedure which clears blocked arteries.

Only 11 hospitals are permitted to perform elective, non-emergency angioplasties under a nationwide study evaluating safety in facilities which are not licensed to perform cardiac surgery. But that study is coming to an end and these hospitals want to keep their hand in this lucrative specialty. Meanwhile, other hospitals want a chance to participate.

If an agreement is not reached before the Senate and Assembly convene Thursday, neither bill is likely to move anytime soon.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.