STATE EXPANDS ACCESS TO HEALTH COVERAGE

This week marks 12 years since the historic passage of the Affordable Care Act, which transformed access to health care for hardworking families. Under our administration, New Jersey has built upon the ACA's significant impact by delivering quality, affordable health coverage to more New Jersey residents than ever before.

During the COVID-19 pandemic -- the greatest health care crisis in more than 100 years -- we launched Get Covered New Jersey, the state's Official Health Insurance Marketplace. The creation of a New Jersey health insurance marketplace was grounded in the belief that health care is a right, not a privilege.

New Jersey established this marketplace at a time when the Affordable Care Act was under attack by the previous federal administration, which shortened the enrollment window and cut funding for outreach, enrollment assistance, and advertising meant to raise awareness about available health coverage options. Creating our own health insurance marketplace meant greater flexibility and control for New Jersey's residents.

Get Covered New Jersey has met this challenge head on. This past winter, more than 324,000 New Jersey residents signed up for health insurance during the annual Open Enrollment Period for the 2022 coverage year, making this year's participation the highest yet. And many of these are consumers who purchased a policy through the marketplace for the very first time.

The success of this year's open enrollment was bolstered by a significant increase in financial assistance made possible by both the American Rescue Plan Act and our own state subsidy, called New Jersey Health Plan Savings, that we implemented to make health insurance even more affordable and accessible.

This year, 9 out of 10 enrollees qualified for financial help, and the majority of those who received assistance are paying $10 or less per month for a health plan. Due to the new and expanded financial assistance, 104,160 New Jersey residents are now receiving a health plan with a monthly premium of $10 or less. By comparison, this is more than three times the number in 2021.

When we launched Get Covered New Jersey, the COVID-19 pandemic was bearing down on New Jersey and the nation. Now, it is clear that the marketplace is serving a critical purpose and meeting its intended goal of providing consumers with the quality, affordable health insurance they deserve.

Although the standard Open Enrollment period has ended, our efforts to cover more residents have not.

New Jersey residents who experience a qualifying life event, such as a pregnancy, marriage, loss of health coverage, relocation, or the birth or adoption of a child, are already permitted to apply for health coverage outside of the standard enrollment period.

Last month, we introduced for the first time, a new Expanded Access initiative, which allows qualified residents -- individuals earning up to $25,760 or $53,000 for a family of four -- to continue to enroll in free or low-cost health insurance plans through Get Covered New Jersey throughout the year.

The new Expanded Access Special Enrollment Period represents our administration's commitment to advancing health equity and affordability. We encourage anyone without health insurance who qualifies for this special enrollment period to learn more about available plans.

The plans offered through Get Covered New Jersey include preventive services, prenatal and pediatric care, emergency services and prescription drug coverage -- among other benefits -- and no one can be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the vital importance of access to health care. Through the decisions and investments of our administration, in partnership with the Legislature, New Jersey has made significant progress in improving affordability and access to health care.

We are proud of the work we have accomplished to build upon the monumental success of the ACA by increasing access to coverage and care in our state. We remain committed to deepening this work in the years to come.

Phil Murphy is governor of New Jersey.

Marlene Caride is commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.

Get Covered New Jersey is operated by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. For more information about Get Covered New Jersey, please visit GetCovered.NJ.gov.

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Phil Murphy and Marlene Caride

Guest columnists