Garden State policy group calls the decision 'a major victory for working-class families in New Jersey'
Gov. Chris Christie, pictured in this Aug. 2 photo with Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., has reversed a decision that would have made thousands of New Jersey residents ineligible for Medicaid coverage. TRENTON — Thousands of New Jersey's working poor will keep their health insurance under a new administration proposal to restructure Medicaid, abandoning a controversial plan that would have drastically reduced the number of eligible recipients.
In May, the state Department of Human Services proposed tightening the income requirements for New Jersey FamilyCare, an offshoot of Medicaid, which provides affordable health insurance for working parents and their children.
For instance, a family of three making $5,317 a year would have earned too much to qualify, compared with the current income cutoff of $24,645.
The initial proposal was roundly criticized by Democratic state legislators, New Jersey's congressional delegation and advocates for children and the poor. Today, they expressed relief at the final plan.
"This is a major victory for working-class families in New Jersey," said Raymond Castro, an analyst with the left-leaning New Jersey Policy Perspective. "It would have been tragic with this great need for health care that they would have been cutting back."
About 23,000 New Jerseyans would have been denied Medicaid coverage under the eligibility freeze, Castro said. There are 1.25 million people enrolled in the Medicaid and New Jersey FamilyCare programs.
The Christie administration is hoping to save about $300 million by reducing Medicaid spending to make up for the loss of $1 billion in federal stimulus money that financed the program for the last two years.
Christie administration officials said that in the face of widespread concern, "it was determined that maintaining eligibility of parents in this category of Medicaid expansion would foster the continued enrollment of uninsured children," according to Nicole Brossoie, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.
The proposal to restructure Medicaid, called the "Comprehensive Medicaid Waiver," was sent to the Obama administration for approval on Friday, she said.
To offset the cost of rolling back a freeze on eligibility, the state said it is seeking more money from the federal government to insure those adults.
"The governor backed off" on freezing the eligibility, state Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex) said. "I'm relieved he decided not to include that in the waiver. It was a horrific idea to begin with."
The plan unveiled in May also proposed charging $25 co-payments for Medicaid recipients who visit emergency rooms for non-emergencies, but that provision was eliminated.
Officials from the state Human Services Department said a co-pay was an ineffective way to encourage using primary care providers instead of emergency rooms.
The state’s application also seeks federal funds to invest in community-based housing for the elderly as well as adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness.
"The final product rebalances the system to generate greater flexibility, increase choices and expand services for those who need it most," Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez said. "The savings realized will support reinvestment that improves services for the currently underserved."