New Jersey Health Insurance

How healthy is living
in New Jersey?

New Jersey is ranked the eighth healthiest state to live in according to the 2012 edition of America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation. This is the state's highest ranking since reporting began in 1990.

The good news:

• Fewer than 17 percent of adults smoke – that's the third-lowest rate in the nation.
• Preventable hospitalizations have declined over the past five years.

The bad news:

• More than 15 percent of the population does not have health insurance.
• Public health funding dropped $4 per person from 2011 to 2012.

New Jersey's best and worst category rankings:

• Smoking – 3rd
• Obesity – 4th
• High School Graduation Rate – 6th
• Infectious Disease – 6th
• Public Health Funding – 32nd
• Lack of Health Insurance – 33rd
• Preventable Hospitalizations – 33rd

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on New Jersey.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key New Jersey health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts New Jersey here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for New Jersey, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Does New Jersey have a health insurance high risk pool?

New Jersey does not have a state risk pool. The state has guaranteed-issue meaning all citizens will be accepted at the same premium regardless of their health. Thus New Yorkers are lucky to have access to health insurance that is much better than a risk pool (which almost always charges a higher-than-the-going-rate because it is made up of uninsurable people).

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, New Jersey started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about New Jersey's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

Non-profit sources of health insurance information for New Jersey

• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's mission is to provide simplified public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. Here is its guide on how to find health insurance in New Jersey.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking the progress of health insurance reform in each state. Its page for New Jersey can be found here.
• The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers. Search for New Jersey health insurance plan report cards.

New Jersey state government health insurance resources

What Is New Jersey Health Insurance Reform? —  The New Jersey Legislature in 1992 created two programs to guarantee access to health coverage for individuals and small employers, regardless of health status, age, claims history, or any other risk factor.

New Jersey Department of Banking & Insurance —  Information for health insurance consumers from the State of New Jersey.

New Jersey Medicaid —  Medicaid provides health insurance to parents/caretakers and dependant children, pregnant women, and people who are aged, blind or disabled. These programs pay for hospital services, doctor visits, prescriptions, nursing home care and other healthcare needs, depending on what program a person is eligible for.

NJ FamilyCare —  Low cost or no cost health insurance program from the State of New Jersey kids and certain low-income parents.

New Jersey Shopping for Health Insurance —  Provides information health insurance for citizen’s of New Jersey.

How did New Jersey officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (6)

• Rodney Frelinghuysen
• Scott Garrett
• Leonard Lance
• Frank LoBiondo

• Jon Runyan
• Christopher Smith

Our
Pick

No (7)

• Robert Andrews
• Rush Holt
• Frank Pallone
• William Pascrell

• Donald Payne
• Steven Rothman
• Albio Sires