- MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR
- REAL RESULTS
- A PLAN FOR NEW JERSEY'S FUTURE
- CONFRONTING TODAY'S CRISIS
- A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCE
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NEWS
Princeton Packet: Corzine proud of health care, Says state's record rivals Massachusetts September 21, 2009 
Gov. Jon Corzine said New Jersey’s efforts to provide affordable and available health care to its citizens, particularly those without coverage, are a model for the nation, and their commitment to continuing this progress is one of the defining policy differences separating him from gubernatorial challenger Chris Christie. ”I think all of us understand how important the overall issue of health care is, both at a national level and at a state level,” said Gov. Corzine in a telephone conference call Monday. Gov. Corzine cited an 11 percent reduction in New Jersey’s uninsured population — approximately 150,000 — from 2007 to 2008, in large part due to his administration’s expansion of family care, particularly for uninsured low-to-middle income individuals and their children. He said 600,000 children and 800,000 other individuals in New Jersey are covered by state or federal programs. ”We are bucking the tide with what is happening in the nation with regard to insurance access,” he said. “Other than Massachusetts, we have probably made the greatest strides of anyone in the country.” He said federal Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sibelius came to New Jersey to specifically praise the state’s “Express Lane Eligibility” option as a model for the country. Express Lane Eligibility, as allowed for under the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, gives states the ability to grant income-eligibility for children for Medicaid or New Jersey FamilyCare based on gross income or adjusted gross income as indicated by state income tax records or returns, according to the governor’s office. Gov. Corzine said he still would like the state’s eligibility requirement for uninsured families to cover many more people. Families with income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible, he said.
Gov. Corzine said although Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has more than a 50 percent market share in the health care insurance area, the state does have competition.”I’d would like to see that number significantly higher,” he said. ”We have also been very aggressive in making sure when you have insurance, it amounts to something,” said Gov. Corzine, a Democrat. He cited the coverage of mammograms as one offering policies should cover and said Mr. Christie’s lack of commitment to coverage of mammograms and policies, which offer “serious coverage,” was one of the biggest policy differences between him and his Republican opponent. Gov. Corzine said Mr. Christie had been critical of how much the state was spending on its family coverage where he favored increased eligibility and funding. ”There are real differences here,” he said of his and Mr. Christie’s policy views on health-care coverage. ”Are you going to have insurance that amounts to anything? You need to have more than bare-bones coverage to reduce costs,” Gov. Corzine said. “We have done a lot to improve the quality of care, reporting of medical errors.” Additionally, “we are working very hard to make sure all of our support for our seniors remains in place,” Gov. Corzine said, adding “We are filling the donut hole,” referring to a gap in prescription drug benefits seniors can encounter in the Medicare prescription drug program. He said the state had developed a prescription drug registry where residents could shop for cheaper prescriptions, which was getting 40,000 hits a month. Gov. Corzine said he was behind President Barack Obama pursuing health-care reform as a critical priority at present and his proposal before Congress. ”We have a major problem in America,” he said. “The principles he has outlined I agree with.” He added, “I would be duplicitous if I said I wasn’t in favor of a public option because we have one in New Jersey.” New Jersey also has coverage for preexisting conditions, which the president wants to make mandatory across the country, he said. The governor said he agreed with President Obama’s proposal for tackling medical malpractice reform through state pilot projects, which President Obama first described in his Sept. 9 address on health care to a joint session of Congress and the nation. Gov. Corzine agreed there needed to be “some attention to holding down litigation costs that are consistent with what the president suggested in pilot programs.” The governor said “I work through our Congressional delegation” in order to support passage of the president’s plan. ”We have more than many,” he said, although he said dwindling competition in the state “would be a concern” if no reform plan was passed. ”One of the reasons public options are needed is to have competition,” he said. |
