Health Insurance Articles
New Jersey Hospital Pushes Newborn Health Insurance
2009-11-05
With the economy failing, many families are opting out of important health insurance coverage in order to cut monthly costs. However, the state of New Jersey is taking an important step to ensure every baby in New Jersey has an affordable health care policy.
In the typical hospital setting, workers provide patients with information about health coverage available for their infant, but do not follow up with the families to see if the infants receive a policy. The new program, NJ FamilyCare, works in a way that participating hospitals throughout the state will inquire at each birth whether the infants will have health insurance. If it is determined that the family will not provide them with a health care policy, the hospital will be offering the parents a state plan that will cover the newborns at an affordable cost - free. The new innovative program was recently announced in New Brunswick at Saint Peter's University Hospital and will affect an average of 27,000 infants that are born at the participating hospitals each year. Officials say that they intend to expand the plan after six months.
The parents will be able to apply for the program at the hospital, and they will be screened to determine if they qualify for the health insurance coverage. To qualify for NJ FamilyCare, families have to earn less than $77,175 each year for a family of four. Additionally, people who are illegal in this country will also be able to register their children without any problems. This program is available for a low price, and the charges for care are based on a sliding scale. After qualifying, a family's application will be sent to the Department of Human Services, and the state will keep track of their coverage until the enrollment process is complete for each family.
By law, all children in New Jersey must be covered by a health insurance policy. However, no penalty or fine is imposed if coverage is refused. In order to emphasize the importance of coverage and make sure each family has the option, the government is paying $5.3 billion for NJ FamilyCare. Moreover, it will cost the state about $43 million each year to insure the newborns. They hope the program will lower expenses for the state and hospitals because emergency rooms will not be used as much for primary care. More people will have preventive care, and they will save money on medical care for their children.
With the cost of medical procedures climbing, it is imperative everyone have some sort of health insurance coverage - especially vulnerable infants. Hopefully, other states and hospitals in the world will implement a similar health insurance program for newborns, ensuring everyone gets the care they need.
