Deadline Looms for Insurance Coverage Beginning With New Year

By Andrew Kitchenman, Courtesy of NJ Spotlight 

It’s become a sprint to the finish line before the December 23 deadline for New Jersey residents to enroll for Affordable Care Act insurance coverage starting on January 1. However, it could also become a marathon lasting months and years before most of those who could get coverage actually receive insurance.

An estimated 901,289 New Jerseyans are eligible for insurance through either the federal marketplace or the related expansion of Medicaid, but only a small fraction have applied. Through November, the total number of state residents who had chosen a marketplace health plan was at 3,259, while another 25,286 people had learned they were newly eligible for Medicaid.

But that still amounts to only 3.2 percent of all eligible state residents. Some health experts believe it could take two to three years to finish enrolling the uninsured.

Read more at NJSpotlight.com

NJ Spotlight is an issue-driven news website that provides critical insight to New Jersey’s communities and businesses. It is non-partisan, independent, policy-centered and community-minded.