Fewer in NJ have no health insurance; will it last?

Sept. 12--As Obamacare faces a series of obstacles, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that fewer New Jerseyans went without health insurance in 2016.

The percentage of people without health insurance in New Jersey dipped to 8 percent in 2016 from 8.7 percent in 2015, the bureau said.

It marked at least the fourth consecutive year that the state's uninsurance rate declined, making good on one of the key goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

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The road ahead, though, is fraught. Premiums for individuals who buy health insurance through the Obamacare marketplace are expected to climb by double digits in 2017. And the Trump administration has given signs that it doesn't plan to heavily market the program or enforce one of the law's most unpopular features: that consumers pay a penalty if they don't buy insurance.

The law passed in 2010 in a bid to provide coverage to nearly all Americans and begin to slow down the rising cost of health care.

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On the first measure, it seems to have worked. The U.S. rate of uninsured has fallen steadily -- 14.5 percent in 2013, 11.7 percent in 2014, 9.4 percent in 2015 and 8.6 percent last year, the Census Bureau reported.

New Jersey has taken a similar path. It was aided by Gov. Chris Christie's decision to accept an expansion of the federal government's Medicaid program.

But neighboring states appear to have been far more effective in signing up consumers. New York's uninsurance rate was 6.1 percent; Pennsylvania's was 5.6 percent; and Delaware's was 5.7 percent, according to the Census Bureau.

Michael L. Diamond; 732-643-4038; [email protected]

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