Health Care Policy Issues

Update on the Affordable Care Act
August 8, 2011

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT)recently released a factsheet that provides an update on the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform law passed in 2010.
Read the Update


U.S. Dept. of Health Issues Rules on Healthcare Exchanges
July 12, 2011

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has just issued proposed rules regarding the healthcare exchanges that will be established in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act. The exchanges will allow individuals and small business to purchase health insurance plans that are reasonable in cost and provide decent benefits.
Read the Proposed Rules from HHS


Citizen Action Update on Healthcare Issues
July 12, 2011

Crystal Sneeden, Health Care Campaign Coordinator for Citizen Action, discusses important developments and events regarding health care policy issues, including Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), the initial stage of the formation of a new, state-wide health insurance exchange, and changes to Medicaid.
Read the Update


Loretta Weinberg Slams Christie's Veto of Women's Healthcare Funds
July 11, 2011

State Senator Loretta Weinberg strongly criticized Governor Christie's recent line item veto of funds for women's healthcare.


Study Shows Benefits of Medicaid Program
July 7, 2011

A study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the Medicaid program had significant, positive benefits for Medicaid recipients. The study's findings run counter to conservative calls to dismantle Medicaid.
Read an Article on the Study


New Jersey Nursing Shortage and Healthcare Reform
May 16, 2011

Lilo Stainton describes how changes in the delivery of healthcare, as well as reimbursement of services, due to healthcare reform will lead to a growing nursing shortage.
Read More


ACOs and Their Impact on Hospitals
May 5, 2011
The federal government has recently issued preliminary regulations regarding Accountability Care Organizations (ACOs). In the hospital blog, Hospital Impact, David Kopans describes the impact of these regulations on acute care hospitals.
Read More


Medicaid Cuts Proposed by Christie Are Not the Solution
April 6, 2011
Raymond Castro, a Senior Policy Analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective, explains why Governor Christie's proposed cuts to Medicaid are unnecessary and unfair.
Read More


Report on the Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
March 2011
New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) issued a report describing the positive effects of President Obama's healthcare reform legislation on working families in New Jersey.
Read the Report


NJ Begins to Implement Health Reform with New Medicaid Model
NJ Senate bill 2443 would establish a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization pilot program in NJ
To Read the Legislation


Health Reform Includes New Rules for Nursing Homes
Read More


NJ Fares Well under Health Care Reform
Read More


Repeal of Health Care Hurts Job and Economic Growth
January 7, 2011
Read More

Eligibility of Adult Children for Coverage Under the New Healthcare Reform Law
November 2, 2010

The U.S. Department of Labor has recently issued a factsheet on the eligibility of adult children for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Read More

The Impact of the Healthcare Reform Law on Funding for Workforce Development
October 18, 2010

Jaime R. Torres, DPM, MS, Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, spoke to the HPAE convention on October 1 about the impact of the new healthcare reform law on nurses, social workers, and other healthcare workers. He provided the convention delegates with a list of programs that will have a positive impact on the development of the healthcare workforce.
Read More

ACOs: A New Model for Healthcare Delivery and Reimbursement
October 11, 2010

Accountability Care Organizations (ACOs) are non-profit organizations formed through the voluntary participation of hospitals, clinics, practitioners, and public health agencies in a geographical area. Their purpose is to improve the quality, capacity, and accessibility of the local health care system primarily through reform of the payment system.

In order to protect the rights of patients and healthcare providers, New Jersey Citizen Action has developed a set of principles to guide the establishment of ACOs. Read More

Grandfathered Plans and the New Healthcare Reform Law
October 11, 2010

As the new healthcare reform law is implemented, health insurance plans will need to be modified to conform with the law. However, some provisions of the law will not be immediately implemented because current health plans will be "grandfathered" for a period of time with respect to these provisions.

Families USA has published an explanation of granfathered plans and the new law. Read More

New Jersey Citizen Action's Health Care Reform Update
August 20, 2010

NJ Approved for Health Insurance Premium Rate Review!
New Jersey’s application to improve our rate review process has been approved by the United States Departrment of Health and Human Services (HHS). New Jersey plans to use the funds to contract with an actuarial firm to conduct a comprehensive study and make suggestions to redesign the rate filing and review process. They will also increase the staff dedicated to rate review and will be consulting with Rutgers to establish a website to provide information to the public. More information is available online at: http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/rateschart.html.

Health Care Train-the-Trainer
New Jersey Citizen Action is launching a series of train-the-trainers to help activists get comfortable talking about the new provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Now that the law has passed, we must educate, educate, educate! Please consider hosting a training to help your members get comfortable talking about the new law. The trainings will range from 1-3 hours & will include an overview of the new law, messaging tips, and more. If you are interested in hosting a training session, please contact crystals@njcitizenaction.org or 732-246-4772 x14.

AARP’s Continuing E-Outreach Series to Inform New Jerseyans about Health Care Reform
August 16, 2010

AARP New Jersey launched a series of six emails to help inform New Jerseyans about the health care reform law and what it could mean for you. This informative series will cover topics such as the “doughnut hole”, health care reform impact on states, long-term care, health care costs, Medicare Advantage, and how health care reform will improve Medicare. This email is the second of six in this important series.

How Will States Benefit From Health Insurance Reform?
Over the next nine years, states will receive $434 billion in new federal funds to expand and support Medicaid and CHIP coverage. This will have a multiplier effect throughout our communities on several fronts including medical job growth, more money being placed in the hands of families, and reinvestment in the state’s economy.

States will benefit from the $12 billion provided to them to expand community health centers, which serve low income rural and urban populations in underserved areas of every state. The new dollars and expanded services will mean new jobs, more tax revenues for states and local communities, and healthier, more productive populations.

States will also benefit from over $40 billion in tax credits for small employers to support the purchase of insurance, over a 10-year period starting in 2010. Tax credits will help small businesses provide health care coverage to their employees, enable small businesses to recruit better employees, and strengthen small businesses and the state’s economy.

Announcing HealthCare.gov
July 8, 2010
This “first-of-its-kind” website is simple and easy to use, and provides one-stop shopping access to a wealth of information, including your new consumer rights and benefits under the Affordable Care Act, a timeline of when new programs under the new law will come online between now and 2014 and a new insurance finder that will make it easy to find both private and public health insurance option that works for you. Read More

How Health Reform Saves Consumers and Taxpayers Money: The Affordable Care Act Lowers Costs and Improves Quality
June 29, 2010

Health reform’s three major goals—insurance reform, affordable coverage, and slower cost growth—are all critical. But controlling costs is key to achieving the other two. Insurance that offers meaningful protection and is affordable to most, if not all, Americans, across the income scale, hinges on getting ever-rising health costs under control. Read More

Transforming Health Care Delivery in NJ: What’s Next

June 11, 2010

“Making it Work for New Jersey: A Statewide Health Care Reform Implementation Conference” brought together 150 representatives of labor, community, health experts, physicians and other healthcare workers to focus on how to coordinate our efforts to make sure that we implement the key components of national health care reform to work for us – not the insurance companies.

Sponsored by NJ Citizen Action and the Consumer Voices for Coverage, the conference included presentations explaining both the immediate gains New Jerseyans will see from the recently passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including:

• Family Coverage to include adult children up to age 26 on parents’ health plan, with fewer restrictions than NJ’s law, and without additional premium;
• Funding for NJ to establish a “high risk pool for those with chronic health conditions;
• An end to lifetime caps and the practice of discriminating against high-risk individuals;
• Immediate $250 benefit to seniors to help close the ‘donut hole’ that resulted in higher prescription drug costs, and long-term lowering of prescription drug costs for 227,000 seniors in New Jersey

And by 2014, health care reform will benefit NJ by:

• Expanding Medicaid eligibility to cover 25% of New Jersey’s uninsured
• Establishing insurance ‘exchanges’ to help small businesses and individuals find insurance plans that must meet comprehensive standards for coverage and care;
• Providing subsidies to lower health care costs for 33% of New Jersey’s uninsured (and for hundreds of thousands of those who already have coverage)
• Helping 106,500 small businesses in New Jersey afford insurance for their workers

The conference also reviewed lesser-known elements of national health reform, including:

• Funding for Pilot programs that would change how care is delivered – with an emphasis on community-based care and coordination of care, especially for those with chronic diseases, disability, and on subsidized programs such as Medicaid. A number of physician groups are establishing ‘accountable care organizations’ to provide more comprehensive care to their patients; and disability groups are working on ‘medical homes’ projects to provide better coordination and continuum of care.
• Funding to address disparities in health care, focused on urban areas and high-risk populations.
• A requirement that hospitals conduct community needs assessments.

How these programs are implemented will matter to HPAE members – as providers and consumers. HPAE intends to be involved in advocating for regulations and laws at the NJ level which will assure quality of care, continued support for our hospitals, and methods that provide the right level of care in the right setting for our patients.

May 10, 2010
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was finally passed - providing quality affordable healthcare to millions more Americans. But what will it actually look like in New Jersey? What role, if any, can we as health care professionals play in making this new law work for New Jerseyans?

Please join health care consumers, health policy experts and other stakeholders from across the state June 8-9, 2010 to learn about the new law, the critical role our state must play to ensure successful implementation and how we can maximize the law's benefits for all of our state's residents.

The conference will provide important information and opportunities for discussion on the following:

• The timeline for state and federal implementation
• Critical reform decisions for New Jersey
• Key provisions and opportunities to advocate for your clients, members and constituents
• Opportunities to advance Health Care Cost and Quality Initiatives
• How Health Reform can address Health Disparities
• Effective Health Reform Messaging
• Continuing to Build a Health Reform Movement

Sign up & view the agenda here.

May 05, 2010
In March 2010, Congress enacted substantial health reform measures intended to increase access to affordable insurance, reduce the number of uninsured people, and reform both the health insurance market and the health care delivery system. The lion’s share of these reforms will take effect in 2014. However, some reforms go into effect well before that time. This brief summarizes and provides context for key immediate reforms to the private health insurance market that will take effect in 2010 and 2011. Read More

April 06, 2010

HPAE & other NJ for Health Care Coalition Members Urge Gov. Christie Not to Challenge Federal Health Care Reform
On behalf of New Jersey Citizen Action and the NJ for Health Care Coalition we are writing to urge you not to pursue legal, legislative or other challenges intended to thwart implementation of the recently passed federal health care reform. Our Coalition, representing more than 2 million residents, supports this historic reform effort and believes it will significantly and positively address the health care crisis in New Jersey. While not a perfect piece of legislation, there is much in the reform package that will greatly benefit New Jersey’s taxpayers, uninsured and insured residents, small business owners, women, children and senior citizens.
Click here to continue reading about how the new legislation will help residents of NJ.

April 01, 2010
New Jersey Benefits More Than Most From the New Health Reform Law
Health reform is now the law of the land. New Jersey is set to benefit significantly from these reforms because of the state’s larger population, high rate of uninsured people and its high cost health insurance. These facts are particularly important given that Gov. Christie has said he is considering the possibility of joining a lawsuit with 13 other states to challenge the new law. Click here to read 8 reasons why NJ will benefit from the new health care law

March 29, 2010

Changes to Health Care Law Passed

Immediately following the passage of national health care reform, a number of amendments that improved on the legislation also passed the Senate, with no Republican votes.

Here’s how the Reconciliation Bill Improves on The Patient Protection Act:

• Delays and reduces the impact of the excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans, protecting middle class families from tax increases and instead taxing those making over $250,000 per year instead.

• Makes insurance affordable, by improving the tax credits and out-of-pocket caps for working families.

• Fully closes the "donut hole" coverage gap for seniors in Medicare, with an immediate $250 rebate and a phase-in of the closing of the coverage gap.

Click here to see how much federal money each state will receive.

Some NJ Congressional members stood out in their successful effort at passing health care reform – in particular Frank Pallone (D-6) chairman of the crucial subcommittee that shaped the legislation, as well as Robert E. Andrews (D-1); Rush Holt (D-12); Bill Pascrell Jr.(D-8); Donald M. Payne (D-10); Steven R. Rothman (D-9); Albio Sires (D-13) and Senators Lautenberg and Menendez.

March 23, 2010

What Will The New Law Do for Me?

The passage of real national health care reform is a giant step in our country’s history. For working families and our unions, it was also an excellent victory. Along with our community and labor allies in HealthCare for America Now, and the AFL-CIO, HPAE members have spent countless hours working hard to fight for the rights of our families and our patients to have access to affordable health care.

What did we actually win?
How will the changes affect the nation?
How will the changes affect you?

The Patient Protection Act (name of bill)

• Provides healthcare coverage for additional 32 million people, or 95 percent of our nation’s population. In NJ alone, about 859,000 more of our 1.2 million uninsured will have health care coverage by 2019.

• Allows adult children up to 26 years-of-age to remain on their parent’s health insurance plan.

• Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage or imposing higher rates due to pre-existing conditions and outlaws dropping coverage when someone requires expensive treatment. In other words – insurance companies have to cover us when we are sick.

• Makes health insurance more affordable, subsidizing individuals earning up to $43,320 or families of four up to $88,200 when they purchase insurance coverage.

• Establishes a procedure to review insurance premium increases and take action against unreasonable rate hikes.

• Lowers prescription drug costs for seniors (closes the donut hole) and provides for financial stability for the Medicare program.

• Establishes an ‘insurance exchange’ similar to what Congress has, so you can purchase the best plan for your needs.

• Pays for the plan through a combination of taxes on higher income wage-earners and an ‘excise’ tax on high-cost plans.

Some of these provisions are almost immediate, some phased in between 2011 and 2018.

Click here to see how the new law will affect your district

Click here to see how health care reform will affect you as an individual

Click here to see how health care reform will affect the state of New Jersey

March 22, 2010

Health Care Reform Is Passed With Help From Union Members

Thanks to HPAE members and other union activists, Sunday, March 21st, 2010 will be remembered as the victorious end to a very long, drawn out fight for health care reform. The House of Representatives voted (219-212) in favor of legislation passed by the Senate in December 2009.
Click here to see how NJ Representatives voted

The House also passed a set of “fixes” to the Senate legislation, which are included in a “reconciliation” bill. This bill will now be sent to the Senate for it approval.

Union members played a key role in this victory. We made 4 million phone calls and sent over 1 million emails to lawmakers. HPAE members were an important part of these numbers – it is because of our hard work that we can say, along with Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, that we’ve finally taken a “momentous step toward comprehensive health care.” To see what else President Trumka had to say about the reforms, view his remarks here

Specifically, the bill:
• covers an additional 32 million people, or 95 percent of the population
• bans coverage denials or higher rates due to pre-existing conditions
• outlaws dropping coverage when someone requires expensive treatment
• establishes a procedure to review insurance premium increases and take action against unreasonable rate hikes.

However, our hard work is not yet over.

The reconciliation bill includes many labor-supported changes to the current legislation. Some of those changes include: modification of the taxes used to provide health insurance to the uninsured, including the so-called “excise” tax on more expensive insurance plans; more subsidies for uninsured working families; and an end to the “donut hole” in the Medicare prescription drug program. Stay tuned throughout this week to see how you can get involved.