More than 75,000 additional New Jerseyans signed up for health insurance this year under the state-based marketplace, the Murphy administration said on Feb. 8.
Between Nov. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021, 269,560 state residents signed up for health insurance under Get Covered New Jersey, including 75,749 new people, Gov. Phil Murphy said on Monday.
That comes as pandemic-driven joblessness forced many people off their employer health care plans or are simply attracted by the cost.
“This part is really quite remarkable: consumers receiving income-based financial assistance for their plans are paying, on average, just about $121 a month for their plans,” the governor said during his annual COVID-19 press briefing Monday afternoon in Trenton.
“That’s $43 per month lower than the plans they purchased in 2020 and it’s even $27 per month lower than in 2014 when the [Affordable Care Act] marketplaces first opened.”
Murphy signed a bill in 2018 creating a state-level individual mandate, after then-President Donald Trump pushed to successfully repeal the requirement at the federal level, panning what he called Trump’s “efforts to destabilize” the ACA, more commonly known as Obamacare.
State penalties for those without insurance go towards health insurance for higher-risk members, such as those with preexisting medical conditions. He signed the bill in 2019 that created the state health insurance marketplace.
A host of measures Murphy enacted in January 2020 would preserve several aspects of the Obama-era health insurance laws, such as the requirement for plans to include certain benefits; prohibits exclusion of people with preexisting conditions; requires plans to keep a claimant on their parents plan until they turn 26, and requires the coverage of contraceptives and preventive services.
In August 2020, Murphy approved what amounted to a 2.5% tax on health insurance plans in order to replace a similar tax that expired on the federal level. While opposed by business groups, Murphy said the bill would enable the state to finance subsidies for lower-income residents to purchase health plans.
Enrollment in a health plan via the state exchange was extended until May 15, keeping in line with a move the Biden administration announced for the federal health exchange.
“We are keeping open the enrollment window to give those who still need health insurance the opportunity to get covered now, rather than having to wait until next year to enroll in a plan,” New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride said in the Monday statement.
