TRENTON — About 1,300 working poor people without children will remain on NJ FamilyCare, the popular state-run health insurance program that otherwise saw significant cuts in the new budget that took effect last week. Republican Gov. Chris Christie's budget left intact a $4 million line-item inserted by the Democrats that would continue coverage for 1,300 people who have received...
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Gov. Christie pictured during a June press conference. His budget cuts spared a small pool of NJFamily Care members.TRENTON — About 1,300 working poor people without children will remain on NJ FamilyCare, the popular state-run health insurance program that otherwise saw significant cuts in the new budget that took effect last week.
Republican Gov. Chris Christie's budget left intact a $4 million line-item inserted by the Democrats that would continue coverage for 1,300 people who have received coverage through FamilyCare since at least 2003, said Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex).To save money, the program was closed to adults without children eight years ago.
Department of Human Services spokeswoman Nicole Brossoie confirmed the state will continue to pays all costs associated with covering this group of people.
Letters will go out this week from the state alerting people of the good news, Vitale said. They have already received a notice announcing their coverage would be canceled July 1, he said.
Vitale called the protected line-item one of the few bits of good news for working poor people in need of health care.
"I know there are one million uninsured New Jerseyans and they need coverage too. We are hopeful we are going to get there with the new health care reform law in the next few years,'' Vitale said. "We offered the coverage to them years ago and they accepted the offer. It wouldn't be right or fair to cut up their cards. It doesn't make financial sense for them to access health care through emergency rooms.''
The Christie budget closes new enrollment by parents in the FamilyCare program. New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning research nonprofit, estimates 23,000 new parents would have enrolled in the coming year had the rules not changed.
