In New Jersey, public coverage has decreased by about 500,000 after COVID-related healthcare safeguards expired.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a health policy research firm, reports that between March 2023 and October 2024, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in New Jersey decreased by 486,135, from over 2.2 million to less than 1.8 million.
The 22 percent enrollment decline is less severe than that of states like Florida and Texas, but it is still significantly higher than the 16 percent national average, which begs the issue of why fewer New Jerseyans were able to keep their coverage when the pandemic-era safeguards ended.
The state has a disenrollment rate of 39%, which is higher than the national average of 31% and represents the proportion of people who were disenrolled but were unable to renew their coverage.
The number is alarming because research shows that a large number of disenrollments were caused by procedural problems, a lack of state communication, and uncertainty about the post-COVID changes, which prevented many people from renewing their coverage.
The universal “disenrollment” or “unwinding” process that started when the COVID national health emergency ended is what caused the coverage decline.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was amended in early 2020 to guarantee “continuous enrolment” for Medicaid and CHIP recipients, prohibiting states from redetermining eligibility and removing coverage during the pandemic.
After redeterminations were put on hold until March 2023, the number of Americans receiving public healthcare increased by 13 million.
KFF discovered that many people were not aware of the effects of the unwinding process after continuous enrollment ended.
Researchers also found that many people were unable to finish their redeterminations on time due to major delays, administrative errors, and other procedural obstacles, which ultimately resulted in unjustified coverage loss.
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In an effort to facilitate its citizens’ transition to the health insurance marketplace, New Jersey extended the special enrollment time for individuals who lost coverage due to the unraveling.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities discovered in April 2024 that New Jersey was one of just four states with an ex parte rate below 20 percent, despite the fact that the majority of states attempted to expand coverage beyond what was observed during COVID by implementing ex parte or auto-renewal programs.
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In New Jersey, the number of people insured by Medicaid and CHIP as of October 2024 was 3% more than in February 2020 and marginally higher than it would have been in the absence of the COVID-era protections. It is still far less than the 11% national average increase, though.
