NJ Spotlight published the following article on 2/14/2014. To read the full article, click here.
Health Insurance Coverage Sign-Ups Via ACA Slip in NJ After Earlier Surge
Andrew Kitchenman | February 14, 2014
New Jersey sign-ups for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act dropped markedly in January after a big upswing in enrollments in December.
A total of 20,054 state residents chose a plan through the federal insurance marketplace in January, a drop of 36.3 percent from the 31,492 who enrolled in December, based on an analysis of statistics released by the U.S. Department of Health Human Services. The marketplace is intended to be a one-stop shop for residents to buy insurance and learn whether they’re eligible for subsidies.
The four-month total of 54,805 puts the state well below the 362,000 total individual-market ACA enrollments predicted by the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy. That estimate was based on the complete implementation of the ACA and may take years to achieve.
Center Director Joel Cantor, the lead author of the enrollment estimate report, said the January enrollments fell short of where they need to be to meet the marketplace’s share of the estimate, which also included residents who purchase their individual insurance directly from insurance companies outside of the marketplace.