New Jersey Removes 500k People From Healthcare Plan

Since the expiry of COVID-related healthcare safeguards, public coverage in New Jersey has dropped by nearly 500,000. According to health policy research group the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrolment in New Jersey has fallen by 486,135, from over 2.2 million to under 1.8 million between March 2023 and October 2024.

Why It Matters

While seeing a less steep decline than states such as Florida and Texas, the 22 percent drop in enrolment is far ahead of the national average of 16 percent, raising questions about why fewer New Jerseyans were able to retain their coverage following the end of the pandemic-era protections. The state's disenrollment rate—the percentage of those who were disenrolled but unable to get their coverage renewed—of 39 percent is also toward the upper end, and ahead of the national average of 31 percent. The number is concerning, as studies indicate that many disenrollments were not due to ineligibility but rather confusion about the post-COVID changes, inadequate state communication, and procedural issues that barred many from renewing coverage.

What To Know

The drop in coverage is the result of the nationwide "disenrollment" or "unwinding" process that began following the end of the COVID national health emergency. In early 2020, a provision was included in The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensuring "continuous enrolment" for those on Medicaid and CHIP, which prevented states from conducting eligibility redeterminations and withdrawing coverage over the course of the pandemic. Redeterminations were paused until March 2023, which resulted in a sharp increase of 13 million in the number of people receiving public healthcare in the U.S.

After continuous enrollment ended, KFF found that many individuals were unaware of how the unwinding process would affect them. Researchers also identified significant delays, administrative mistakes, and other procedural hurdles that prevented many from completing their redeterminations on time, ultimately leading to unwarranted coverage loss. New Jersey made some efforts to ensure citizens understood the process, and extended the special enrollment period for those who lost coverage as a result of the unwinding, easing their transition to the health insurance marketplace. However, while most states tried to build on the coverage expansion seen during COVID through ex parte or auto-renewal initiatives, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found in April 2024 that New Jersey was one of only four states with an ex parte rate under 20 percent. As of October 2024, the number of individuals covered by Medicaid and CHIP in New Jersey was slightly above what it would have been without the COVID-era safeguards, showing a 3 percent increase compared to February 2020. However, it remains significantly below the national average increase of 11 percent.

What People Are Saying

Referring to the procedural issues cited by KFF, which led to many individuals failing to renew coverage, Laura Waddell of the advocacy group New Jersey Citizen Action told the New Jersey Monitor in late 2023: "It's bad enough people are being terminated, but now, for people to be terminated for processing reasons, it's just hard to see."

What Happens Next?

KFF told Newsweek that the unwinding process had largely come to an end and that as a result it would no longer be updating its tallies of Medicaid and CHIP disenrollments. Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.