New Jersey May Drop 15,000 Low-Income Adults and Children from Health Insurance Program

The New Jersey Department of Human Services announced on Jan. 9 that as many as 15,000 adults and children could lose their medical and dental insurance under FamilyCare, the state's health insurance program for low-income families, on Feb. 1 because they have not submitted their re-enrollment forms, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. The 4,700 families involved have not responded to three letters sent by the department since August asking them to reapply for the program. "We believe that many of these beneficiaries have found health insurance through an employer, have moved out of state or have some other reason for no longer being interested in NJ FamilyCare," James Smith, acting commissioner of the state Department of Human Services, said, adding, "But we don't want to take the step of terminating a family's health insurance without giving them every possible opportunity to provide the information requested" (Newark Star-Ledger, 1/10). FamilyCare is a non-Medicaid CHIP expansion program that covers children from low-income families, their parents and some childless adults (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/16/01). New Jersey has enrolled 157,150 adults in FamilyCare since its inception in November 2000. While the program has expanded along with demand -- enrollment has increased by 5,100 in the past four weeks -- the human services department is "watching the bottom line and may restrict enrollment in the future," state spokesperson Cece Lentini said (Newark Star-Ledger, 1/10).