We believe health care is a human right, not a privilege. Everyone should have access to affordable, quality healthcare- regardless of race, income, age, gender identity, or immigration status. Because of the Affordable Care Act, we have made great progress, but disparities still exist and people of color are more likely to be uninsured. That’s why we work to improve access to quality, affordable, and equitable health care at the State and Federal levels.
Since 2008, NJCA has convened the NJ for Health Care Coalition, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Community Catalyst as part of their Consumer Voices for Coverage initiative. Learn more about the coalition here.
Our Statewide Priorities Include:
- Covering All Kids: expanding the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program to ensure the 80,000 uninsured children in New Jersey, the majority of whom are children of color, have access to high-quality health coverage and care.
- Prescription Drug Pricing Reform: create an independent New Jersey Prescription Drug Affordability Review Board to evaluate drug prices and set limits on how much New Jerseyans will pay for high cost prescription medications.
- NJ Easy Enrollment Health Insurance Program: Would allow state residents to enroll in health insurance coverage when filing their state taxes.
- Universal Health Coverage: Expanding New Jersey Family Care as a means to insure more New Jersey families.
- Promoting the Affordable Care Act: Expanding access to health coverage through education and outreach.
- Youth Screening for Substance Misuse & Mental Health: Increase access to universal preventative screenings and mental health supports in our schools.
- Ensuring access to reproductive health care for all, including abortion, by passing the Reproductive Freedom Act.
Our Federal Priorities Include:
Increasing access and lowering the cost of health coverage by:
- Making the increased premium tax credits of the American Rescue Plan permanent.
- Lowering drug prices to ensure affordable, fair and equitable access to medicine for all by putting public health before profits and by holding drug corporations accountable
- Creating a public option that would give everyone more choices in health coverage, including choice of a public program like Medicare over private insurance.
- Supporting policies that would insure 4.9 million people in states that have yet to expand Medicaid.
- Supporting policies that would: Increase access to reproductive services and improve maternal health outcomes.
In the past, we’ve successfully advocated for and supported the implementation of:
- Creation of a New Jersey Health Insurance Affordability Fund to lower the cost of health care premiums for low and moderate income families.
- Establishment of New Jersey’s Health Insurance exchange, Getcovered.NJ.gov. Offering more flexibility and protections for New Jersey health care consumers.
- Adoption of permanent ACA protections in New Jersey law. This guarantees that your premiums can’t be higher based on medical condition or gender, insurance must cover preventive care and contraception, pre-existing conditions, mental health, substance use disorder treatment, maternity, and children until the age of 26.
- The expansion of out of network/surprise medical bill protections and provider disclosures for inpatient, outpatient, and emergency services for those enrolled in individual small and large group plans regulated by the state. Employers who offer self funded plans can opt into the protection this offers. (The 2021 passage of the Federal No Surprises Act expands these protections)
- Promoted and defended the Affordable Care Act.
- The Medicaid expansion in New Jersey as part of our ongoing effort to achieve national health care reform.