A Health Insurance Exchange in New Jersey?

Now that the Affordable Care Act has been declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, states must scramble to implement the law by deadlines set forth in the legislation or risk being noncompliant and losing federal funding for many provisions. On Friday, July 13, NJ Spotlight hosted a roundtable discussion at Montclair State University with healthcare advocates to discuss the issues that now must be addressed, as well as the various positions of stakeholders and the requisite timetables.

On the panel were Sen. Joe Vitale, D-Middlesex, chair of the state Senate health, human services and senior citizens committee; Joel Cantor, director of the Center for Health Policy at Rutgers; Jeff Brown, coordinator of policy advocacy and communications for Citizen Action; Neil Eicher, deputy director of policy, New Jersey Hospital Association, and Ward Sanders, president, New Jersey Association of Health Plans.

Given the tone of national rhetoric it was surprising that all those on the panel agreed they were ready to get going with implementation, although some voiced differences when it came to policy choices. The following is a rundown of the issues that are facing New Jersey regarding the implementation of the ACA:

HealthCare Insurance Exchange: Should New Jersey Build Its Own or Let the Feds Do it?

The state has only until November 16 to notify the federal government that it plans to build its own healthcare insurance exchange -- if it wants to obtain funding for it. Although Gov. Chris Christie says he has until January 2013 to indicate his preference, the reality is that unless the federal government changes its timetables, the state must declare its intentions less than two weeks after the November election. (Officials privately believe that Christie wants to wait until after the election to signal his position.)

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