Gov. Phil Murphy signed his fourth executive order Sunday to ensure greater enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace in New Jersey.
This includes greater variety of information distributed to the public — but no specifics were provided — and training state agencies’ staff to engage with consumers and navigators.
The steps state agencies plan to take will be required in a report due by May, with an updated report in August.
“President (Donald) Trump has attempted to undermine access to affordable health care at every turn,” Murphy said. “By stepping in at the state level, better advertising ACA enrollment periods and properly coordinating efforts to raise awareness at our state agencies, we can help combat those efforts and make sure that New Jersey residents don’t miss out on registering for vital health insurance.”
Despite record number of enrollments being reported early in the latest enrollment period, the overall signups took a hit from the previous year.
When Trump halved the sign-up period, it cut the advertising budget for New Jersey by $1 million and the final enrollment was 280,000, down from 295,000 the year before.
“This executive order will allow us to confidently move toward the Nov. 1, 2018, enrollment period with the knowledge that New Jersey residents have been better educated about health care options,” Murphy said. “The most effective tool we have in the fight for the Affordable Care Act is education, and we are striving to get information to as many consumers in New Jersey as possible.”
