New Jersey Health Insurance

How healthy is living in New Jersey?

New Jersey climbed three spots higher – from 21st to 18th – in the 2008 ranking of the healthiest states by the United Health Foundation.

The state's best and worst category rankings:

• Infant mortality – 2nd
• Children (under 18) in poverty – 3rd
• Occupational fatalities – 4th
• High school graduation – 7th (85.1 percent of ninth graders eventually graduate)
• Number of primary care physicians – 8th
• Prevalence of smoking – 10th
• Prevalence of obesity – 10th
• Infectious disease – 42th

See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on New Jersey.

Does New Jersey have a risk pool for the uninsurable?

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).

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 poolto 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. Find more on risk pools here.

Mini-meds a guaranteed-issue option for those who are medically uninsurable

An option for the medically uninsurable is a guaranteed-issue mini-med health insurance plan. There is no underwriting and no health questions are asked.

These plans provide basic coverage but are not designed to help with catastrophic expenses. They can often count as creditable coverage, eliminating the waiting period for pre-existing conditions if you later move to an employer-based plan. Read more here.

Cover The Uninsured's guide on finding health insurance in New Jersey

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in New Jersey and all other states.
• Its guide on how to find health insurance in New Jersey.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

USNews health insurance rankings for New Jersey

US News does an annual ranking of what it considers the best health insurance plans in each state. Visit its reports on various health insurance or medical insurance plans being offered in New Jersey.

Official State Goverment Sites with New Jersey Health Insurance Information

New Jersey Health and Human Services -- Health Insurance section -- provides information health insurance for citizen's of New Jersey.

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

Non-profit sites of interest to those in New Jersey

New Jersey Citizens Action -- the state's largest citizen watchdog coalition, which says it works to protect and expand the rights of individuals and families and to ensure that government officials respond to the needs of people.