New Jersey residents will still be required to have health insurance in 2019, as the state has passed its own individual mandate to replace the penalty that will be eliminated at the federal level next year.
The tax cut law passed by Republicans in Congress last year zeroed the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s individual mandate penalty beginning in 2019, despite warnings such an action would lead to millions dropping their coverage, leaving a sicker, older and more expensive risk pool in the individual market. Massachusetts already had a mandate in place from earlier healthcare reforms, which later served as a blueprint for the ACA, but New Jersey is first to replace the penalty for 2019 since it was eliminated in the tax law.
"Protecting the viability of the individual mandate is needed to maintain a foundation for the insurance market and to allow the success of the [ACA] to continue,” New Jersey state Sen. Joe Vitale, a Democrat and one of the bill’s chief sponsors, told reporters after it was signed into by Gov. Phil Murphy.
The penalty will be the same as the ACA’s mandate: either $695 or 2.5 percent of a person’s income, whichever is greater.
Along with the mandate, Murphy also signed a bill creating a reinsurance fund to cover high-cost consumers from the money collected through the mandate penalty, though the program would need federal approval to move forward.
Vermont has also passed a law for its own version of the mandate but with some additional steps needed for implementation. As signed, the bill will require a working group to determine how to best enforce the requirement to have health insurance beginning in 2020—leaving a year without the penalty in place.
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.