Governor Murphy Highlights Expanded Eligibility for NJ FamilyCare Health Care Coverage as Administration Continues Efforts to Cover All Kids
Governor Phil Murphy highlighted expanded eligibility for NJ FamilyCare health care coverage as part of his Administration’s efforts to provide all New Jersey children with health insurance through the “Cover All Kids” campaign. As of January 1, 2023, children under the age of 19 whose families meet income eligibility requirements are now able to obtain Medicaid coverage regardless of their immigration status.
NJ FamilyCare is the state’s publicly funded health insurance program that includes Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recipients and is managed by the New Jersey Department of Human Services.
“Every child should have access to health care,” said Governor Murphy. “By helping more children get NJ FamilyCare coverage regardless of their immigration status, we are working to make New Jersey a fairer, more affordable place for all to live. This expanded eligibility is an important step in my Administration’s ongoing efforts to ensure every child in our state has access to the quality health insurance coverage they deserve.”
Phase 1 of the Cover All Kids campaign helped remove barriers and support connections to coverage by eliminating the 90-day waiting period for children to get coverage after enrolling in the New Jersey Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and eliminating premiums families would have paid for children enrolled in CHIP. Targeted mailings have been sent to key community partners, like food pantries, libraries, family success centers, local health departments, and others.
This year’s expanded eligibility represents the start of Phase 2 of the campaign, which focuses on equitable access to health insurance coverage regardless of immigration status. As of January 1, standard coverage is now available for children of undocumented status who otherwise meet the same requirements as all other children in the Medicaid program. This expanded eligibility is estimated to apply to an additional 16,000 children throughout New Jersey.
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Governor Murphy Announces Legislative Package to Ensure Fiscal Accountability at Public Institutions of Higher Education
Governor Phil Murphy joined Senator Joe Cryan, Assemblywoman Mila Jasey, and Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Brian Bridges in announcing a legislative package aimed at ensuring fiscal accountability at public institutions of higher education in New Jersey. The three bills would implement additional fiscal reporting and publication requirements for these institutions to ensure greater oversight and transparency. The bills will also ensure that the board members of these institutions receive ongoing training to ensure that they are equipped to adequately manage the fiscal operations of our public institutions of higher education.
“When institutions are in financial distress, it is often the students and staff who are subjected to the greatest turbulence and uncertainty,” said Governor Murphy. “As public institutions of higher education, these schools are accountable to both the government and the taxpayers of our state. This legislation will promote greater fiscal accountability among our public institutions of higher education on behalf of all those working and studying at these New Jersey institutions.”
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Murphy Administration Announces Federal Approval of Action Plan to Distribute Hurricane Ida Recovery Funds
The Murphy Administration announced the federal government’s approval of New Jersey’s plan to spend $228 million of federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to assist households and communities that were impacted by Hurricane Ida.
The approval of New Jersey’s Action Plan by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will allow the State to restore Ida-damaged homes, provide rental assistance to people impacted by Hurricane Ida, support hardest hit and financially strained communities, buy out homes in communities vulnerable to repetitive flooding, and finance resilient infrastructure projects throughout New Jersey to protect the state from future storms. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which houses the Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation, is the state agency responsible for administering the federal CDBG-DR funds.
“The State of New Jersey thanks HUD for its review and approval of our Ida Action Plan and for partnering with us in a collaborative working relationship as we continue recovering from Hurricane Ida,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “New Jersey’s communities are still dealing with the effects Hurricane Ida left behind. But with federal approval of our Action Plan, we will continue moving forward with the job of repairing from Ida and building more resilient communities, preparing us for the next storm.”
“There are still many people who are not fully back on their feet from Hurricane Ida,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who also serves as DCA Commissioner. “With HUD’s approval of our Action Plan, we can put these disaster recovery funds to use to get families back into their homes as quickly as possible and find opportunities to help communities build back even stronger.”
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Governor Murphy Announces Planning for New 2024 Energy Master Plan
Governor Murphy announced the commencement of planning for the development of a new Energy Master Plan (EMP) for release in 2024. The 2024 EMP will reflect New Jersey’s updated climate goals and the impacts of recent state and federal policies that will help accelerate the state’s transition to a 100% clean energy economy.
“After five years of bold climate action in New Jersey, we must not only assess our progress to date, but renew our commitment to a clean energy economy while taking stock of the breadth of resources at our disposal,” said Governor Murphy. “Only by developing and diligently pursuing an updated climate mitigation strategy can we build upon our efforts to cultivate resilient and sustainable communities. In addition to taking into consideration the implications of new state and federal policies, the 2024 Energy Master Plan will seek to better capture economic costs and benefits, as well as ratepayer impacts, throughout our journey toward a clean energy future.”
“Since the outset of the Murphy Administration, we have responsibly pursued a clean energy strategy supported by concrete evidence and focused on providing significant benefits for all New Jerseyans,” said Jane Cohen, Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy Executive Director. “We are eager to further optimize this pathway to a clean energy future by engaging in robust stakeholder engagement, analyzing economic and ratepayer impacts, and devising a strategy that better reflects our current arsenal of policy tools and resources.”
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ICYMI: Governor Murphy and AG Platkin Announce Recipients of $10 Million in Federal Funds to Continue the State’s Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program
Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced 11 recipients of a combined $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds allocated for the continued support of the New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (NJHVIP).
NJHVIP launched in 2020 using funds from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) program. Following a reduction in VOCA grant dollars that necessitated seeking alternative funding sources, Attorney General Platkin worked with the Murphy Administration this past summer to secure ARP dollars to maintain HVIPs across the state. As a result of that funding, these awards bring the State’s HVIP programming into its fourth year.
These programs connect victims of community violence to services beginning at the hospital bedside, providing comprehensive support that provides the healing and stability needed to reduce the risk of retaliation or revictimization. NJHVIPs’ teams of medical and community service providers are an integral part of the State’s public safety strategy.
“These innovative violence interventions programs support survivors of gun violence from the very early stages of their healing journey to help disrupt the cycles of violence that have claimed the lives of too many New Jerseyans,” said Governor Murphy. “Attorney General Platkin and I will continue to do the work to provide these necessary services to communities who have suffered enough from the epidemic of gun violence.”
“Keeping New Jerseyans safe is my number one priority, and these groundbreaking violence intervention programs stop cycles of violence before they start,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Thanks to Governor Murphy, we are providing essential funding to continue their successes and reinvest in their work. These innovative community-based partnerships with our leading medical institutions across the state are what happens when we treat public safety as a shared responsibility and as a matter of public health.”
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