New Jersey Legislature Approves Bill To Expand FamilyCare Program
The New Jersey Legislature on Monday approved legislation that would expand health care coverage for parents and mandate that all children have coverage, the Asbury Park Press reports. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 59-18 vote, with two abstentions, in the Assembly. Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is expected to sign the bill into law.
The bill would require all uninsured children in the state to obtain private or state-funded health coverage within the first year of the bill's enactment. The plan is expected to begin in September. The program also will expand NJ FamilyCare, the state's version of SCHIP, to parents with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D), the bill's sponsor, said he expects 25,000 parents to enroll in the expanded program within a year and as many as 80,000 to enroll within three years.
The plan would be funded with $8.9 million that has already been added to the state's proposed fiscal year 2009 budget. The state Department of Human Services estimated that within three years, the annual cost of the program would be $68 million. Vitale said the program's cost would be offset by a reduction in state charity care spending. Vitale said savings from charity care funds, which are paid by the state to hospitals for treating the uninsured, are anticipated to be $913 per adult enrolled in FamilyCare.
Changes also would be made to individual health care programs to make coverage more affordable for younger residents by charging older residents three-and-a-half times more for a policy than younger people. Premium increases would be capped at 15% per year in each of the next four years. In addition, the state health department would be responsible for creating guidelines for a "hardship waiver," which would waive FamilyCare premiums for certain children (Rispoli, Asbury Park Press, 6/24).
