Gov. Murphy highlights Cover All Kids initiative to provide all New Jersey kids with health insurance

NEW JERSEY – Governor Phil Murphy Tuesday visited the North Hudson Community Action Corporation to highlight the $20 million investment in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY2022) budget proposal for Phase 1 of the Cover All Kids campaign.

“No child in New Jersey should be left without the support and security of health care coverage,” Murphy said. “The proposed investment toward Cover All Kids in our budget continues the progress we’ve made toward advancing health care accessibility, while laying the foundation to ensure that more children are able to receive access to quality health care coverage that they deserve.”

“As a daughter of immigrants and as someone who grew up with NJ FamilyCare coverage for most of my childhood, I could not be more thankful for the Governor’s leadership here and excited about what this campaign will mean for the thousands of uninsured children in New Jersey,” said Shabnam Salih, Executive Director of the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency. “Through this work we will not only be ensuring better health care for these children, but removing a significant burden in their lives that will help ensure brighter and healthier futures.”

“Governor Murphy is committed to supporting New Jerseyans through every stage of life, which is why he’s proposing a new Cover All Kids initiative to provide health care coverage for every New Jersey child,” said Human Services Acting Commissioner Sarah Adelman. “New Jersey has been leading the way on health care access for years, and with this plan we will achieve something monumental and fundamental: health care for every child. This is a compassionate and fiscally responsible plan – and it’s realistic. It’s also – most importantly – crucial for our children and our future.”

“Under Governor Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey has made it a priority to improve access to health care, based on the principle that health care is a fundamental right. Last fall, we opened our state-based exchange, Get Covered New Jersey, where residents who do not have health insurance from an employer or other program can purchase coverage. That alone was transformational for our state,” said Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride. “Now with a plan to Cover All Kids, New Jersey will continue to chart a deliberate path forward and deliver improved health care access for residents.”

The campaign further builds on the Governor’s progress in making critical strides in improving access to more affordable health care coverage for New Jersey residents. The launch of the Cover All Kids campaign provides the opportunity to extend coverage to those most in need. This initiative will improve accessibility and remove barriers to cover nearly 90,000 uninsured children in our state.

Phase 1 of the Cover All Kids Campaign

The first phase will remove barriers and support connections to coverage for nearly 53,000 children through FY2022 by doing the following:

• Eliminating the 90-day waiting period for coverage to children newly enrolling into the Children Health’s Insurance Program (CHIP);
• Removing premiums families would pay for their children enrolled in CHIP; and
• Developing targeted outreach efforts to boost enrollment for currently eligible children who are unenrolled.

Phase 2 of the Cover All Kids Campaign

The second phase of the campaign begins after Phase 1 implementation and will provide coverage options for children of undocumented immigrants and those whose families’ incomes are over NJ FamilyCare eligibility, but still find coverage unaffordable and out of reach.