Assembly Majority Office - 2/21/2018

The new law, formerly bill (A-1656), would expand Medicaid coverage of family planning services to non-pregnant individuals whose income does not exceed the highest income eligibility level established for pregnant women under current state plan, which is currently 200 percent of the federal poverty level in New Jersey.

"This is a wise and financially sound move. We can't leave this money sitting on the table when family planning centers throughout the state have been forced to close, scale back their services or turn patients away, hitting residents in urban areas particularly hard," said Mukherji (D-Hudson).

The new law would exercise a state option provided under the federal "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," which permits states to expand family planning services through a state plan amendment. In doing so, the federal government would pay 90 percent of the costs for these services.