NEWS

New Jersey Newsroom: Number of New Jerseyans without health insurance dropped by 11 percent in 2007-08
September 14, 2009


The number of New Jerseyans without health insurance decreased by more than 11 percent or by 147,000 individuals, the second largest reduction in the nation between 2007 and 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine said Monday.

At the same time, the number of uninsured in the United States rose by 1.5 percent, according to a U.S. Census report on the income, poverty and health insurance coverage nationwide in 2008.

Corzine credited what he described as aggressive initiatives aimed at enrolling the uninsured for the declining New Jersey rate. He also credited the decrease to the landmark New Jersey Health Care Reform Act of 2008 that he signed into law in July, which expanded health insurance eligibility and provided more access to affordable health insurance for children.

"Families cannot build a strong economic future for their children without stable, secure and affordable health insurance and that is what our administration has been working to accomplish," Corzine said.

"In New Jersey, we are setting the national standard to ensure our families have secure and affordable health care and our children have a healthy start in life. We have ramped up our enrollment efforts and worked fervently by expanding NJ FamilyCare to include a child mandate. We said, ‘No,' to the Bush administration when it tried to cut 10,000 kids out of New Jersey's Family Care Program and we have implemented a new Express Lane option to reach and enroll every eligible child. Providing access to affordable health insurance and expanding eligibility has and will continue to be a priority of my Administration."

Through the governor's efforts, New Jersey continues to have eligibility for NJ FamilyCare set at 350 percent of the federal poverty level, which is one of the most generous levels in the nation. In addition, New Jersey expanded this program to cover all parents up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. This has increased NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid enrollment for children and adults by 24 percent since 2006. As of Aug. 31, 595,002 children and 244,104 parents were enrolled in NJ FamilyCare.

In addition, through the Health Care Reform Act of 2008, all children 18 and under are required to have health insurance through employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, NJ FamilyCare or NJ FamilyCare Advantage. The legislation also reformed private insurance to extend dependant coverage up to the age of 31.

New Jersey has also become the first in the nation to take advantage of the new federal Express Lane Eligibility application. Nearly 3,000 children have been enrolled in its first three months.

As a result of these efforts, the number of uninsured in New Jersey is down from 1.34 million to 1.2 million from 2006-2008. New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut all saw increases in the number of uninsured over the same period, according to state Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Neil N. Jasey.

"Today is evidence that New Jersey is at the forefront of addressing the national healthcare crisis," Jasey said. "Consistent with our mandate, DOBI strongly enforces existing New Jersey law, including Governor Corzine's recently passed healthcare reforms to ensure consumers are protected and insurance coverage is available."

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has praised Corzine for setting the national standard to cover more uninsured children.

The Obama administration has committed an additional $286 million for NJ FamilyCare as part of $6 billion in new federal Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act funding.

Corzine also announced Monday that approximately 48,000 households in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Monmouth and Ocean counties will be receiving NJ FamilyCare Express Lane applications by mail. He said that with this final mailing, approximately 290,000 applications have been sent to families who indicated on their 2008 state tax forms that at least one child in the household was uninsured. More than 14,000 of the easy Express Lane enrollment forms have been returned to the Department of Human Services.

"We've been delighted by the response from our previous mailings and we're confident this final stage will draw even more families," said state Department of Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez. "Our goal remains to enroll every eligible child until there are none left."

NJ FamilyCare is a free or low-cost program for income-eligible families. For instance, a family of four earning up to $77,175 – or 350 percent of the federal poverty level – can qualify to insure their children for about $130 a month in the state- and federally-funded program. NJ FamilyCare ADVANTAGE is a "buy-in" program for families earning more than 350 percent of the federal poverty level. The maximum monthly premium is $411 for a family with three or more children.

For more information on the NJ FamilyCare programs, call 1-800-701-0710 or visit njfamilycare.org.

– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM