New Jersey

IN THE STATES: Another 'Blaze of Glory' from New Jersey's City by the Bay?

Paul Testa — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:01:00 -0400

Perth Amboy, New Jersey—the City by the Bay, the birth place of Bon Jovi, the punchline of James Thurber's "More Alarms at Midnight" and yesterday, the site where New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a series of new health reform initiatives, as reported by the AP.

We were in New Jersey last March, where New Jersey State Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the health committee, laid out a two-phase plan for covering all New Jerseyans. And last week we blogged about the passage of "phase one" of those reforms in the New Jersey Legislature. A quick recap, the new legislation:

Expands NJ FamilyCare , the state's health insurance program for low-income children and some adults
Mandates that all children in the State have health care coverage through public or private means.
Reforms aspects of the individual and small group market
Raises the eligibility age for young adults to stay on their parents' health plans

In a press release, Corzine called the signing "an historic day for health care in New Jersey," and Vitale stated: "We need to spend health care dollars smarter, and this new law puts us on track to get better health results cheaper for the 1.5 million New Jerseyans who are one major illness or injury away from bankruptcy."

Vitale's right. Too many Americans are livin' on a prayer when it comes to health care, delaying necessary treatments and hoping to avoid serious illness. But unlike Tommy and Gina, when it comes to health reform it does make a difference whether we make it or not. Initiatives like New Jersey's—which passed the state senate unanimously—are encouraging because they show Democrats and Republicans can come together, even in times of fiscal duress, to pass meaningful health reform. We may not be half way there to health reform, but if enough politicians are willing to take each other's hands in support bipartisan measures, we'll make it. We swear.

IN THE STATES: Health Reform Blossoms in Garden State

Paul Testa — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:00:00 -0400

Even in a time of very tight state budgets, New Jersey's governor and legislature are taking major steps toward covering all of the state's residents, according to the Philadelpia Inquirer. This week the state Senate and Assembly both passed a measure (S-1557) that would require all children to be covered and would also cover some low-income parents. They provided $8.9 million in new funds to expand FamilyCare, (the state's health insurance program for low-income children and some adults), and moved to allow insurance premiums offered on the individual market to vary based on age to make plans more affordable for younger adults and help bring them into the health insurance pool.

The move to cover all of the state's children is the first step in a two-phase plan to cover all New Jerseyans we wrote about earlier this year. The second phase of reforms will seek to require all individuals to have coverage and create a new insurance option for uninsured residents with subsidies to ensure insurance is affordable. That second phase is still subject to more political debate.

State Senator Joseph Vitale, a leader on the reform efforts in the state who recently presented the state's work at a panel at AcademyHealth, noted "It's the only way that literally hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans who are uninsured will ever have access to affordable health insurance... It's a gateway to care that's dependable and affordable and reliable."

IN THE STATES: New Jersey Unveils New Coverage Proposal

Elizabeth Carpenter — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:44:00 -0400

Can New Jersey afford health reform? Can New Jersey afford to do without health reform? We traveled north to the Garden State today as our very own Len Nichols, (see Len's presentation here ) the AARP, the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, Governor Jon Corzine, Representative Frank Pallone, and a host of state lawmakers addressed those two key questions.

Most of the buzz surrounded New Jersey State Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the health committee, who has introduced legislation that would seek to cover all New Jerseyans in two phases during a three-year-period:

Phase 1: Vitale would require all children to have coverage. He would expand eligibility for New Jersey FamilyCare (the State Children's Health Insurance Program expansion), and introduce reforms to revive New Jersey's struggling individual market.
Phase 2: Vitale would require all individuals to have coverage and create a new insurance option for uninsured residents.

While the reaction to Vitale's proposal is largely positive, some, including Governor Corzine, have expressed concern with the state's ability to finance reform over the long-term. Although Corzine, a former U.S. Senator, regards covering everyone in his state as a policy goal and spoke favorably of Vitale's approach, he views health reform as largely a federal responsibility.

Federal reform is tough but at least Washington lawmakers have access to financing levers—mainly the federal tax system—that are not available to the states. Still, the question on everyone's mind here: Can we really afford health reform amid an economic downturn?

In 2000 the Institute of Medicine put the cost of the poor health and diminished lifespan of the uninsured at between $65 and $130 billion a year (Our own update at New America, which we'll be putting out next week, put the cost at between $102 and $204 billion in 2006). Many health economists believe this is enough money to cover the entire uninsured population. Meanwhile, rising health care costs undermine the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, threaten the stability of middle class jobs, and place increasing strain on federal, state, and local budgets. So the answer New Jersey seems clear: we cannot afford to ignore our struggling health system any longer.