Despite Strong Economy, Many in New Jersey Still Lack Health Insurance

More New Jersey residents lack health insurance now than a decade ago, and the situation is "likely to worsen" as health care costs continue to rise, a study released this week by the Rutgers Center for State Health Care Policy reveals. The study reviewed employer-based health plans nationwide from 1996 though 1998, finding that premiums for single employees in the state averaged about $2,500 annually -- almost $500 more than the national average. Recent reviews by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association concur with the Rutgers findings, showing that health care costs in the state rose on average 8.8% last year, the most growth in nearly a decade. Rutgers researchers, who presented their study findings May 15 at a health policy symposium, said health costs are most burdensome to small businesses, who are under more market pressure to pass costs on to their workers. Despite the "gloom and doom" of the findings, New Jersey still ranks about average with respect to its rate of insurance compared to national figures; about 80% of state residents under age 65 are covered under some form of insurance, according to W. David Helms, national researcher and director of Robert Wood Johnson's program on state health insurance. Helms added, "New Jersey should get enormous credit for taking the bold steps to expand coverage for low-income families" through its KidCare and FamilyCare programs (Stainton, Gannett/Asbury Park Press, 5/16).