Bill Text: NJ AR198 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Urges President and Congress to continue State and federal partnership managing the Medicaid program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-06-22 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR198 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2016-AR198-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 198

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

217th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 12, 2016

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  NANCY J. PINKIN

District 18 (Middlesex)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Urges President and Congress to continue State and federal partnership managing the Medicaid program.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee on June 12, 2017, with amendments.

  

An Assembly Resolution urging the President and the Congress of the United States to continue the partnership which exists between the State and federal government to manage the Medicaid program.

 

Whereas, The Council of State Governments (CSG) is the nation's only organization serving all three branches of state government. CSG is a region-based forum that fosters the exchange of insights and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. This offers unparalleled regional, national¹,¹ and international opportunities to network, develop leaders, collaborate¹,¹ and create problem-solving partnerships; and

Whereas, New Jersey is a part of the CSG's Eastern Regional Conference, which is comprised of New Jersey and 10 other member states from Maine to Maryland, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and five eastern Canadian Provinces; and

Whereas, The CSG's Eastern Regional Conference has adopted a resolution urging the federal Executive and Legislative branches of government to maintain the integrity of the strong state and federal partnership that has been the hallmark of the federal Medicaid program since its inception more than ¹[fifty] 50¹ years ago; and

Whereas, As a member of CSG's Eastern Regional Conference, New Jersey strongly supports the continued partnership of the State and the federal government in managing the Medicaid program in New Jersey; and

Whereas, The Medicaid program was enacted as Title XIX of the Social Security Act in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson to provide medical assistance to individuals whose incomes and resources were insufficient to meet the costs of necessary medical services; and

Whereas, Federal laws and policies establish a broad framework for the Medicaid program¹,¹ and states are provided flexibility within that framework to design state Medicaid programs ¹[which] that¹ best meet the unique needs of each state to provide all necessary medical services without individual state or national spending caps; and

Whereas, New Jersey has designed a Medicaid program that is a unique support system tailored to the needs of New Jersey residents; and

Whereas, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, commonly known as the Affordable Care Act, allowed states to opt to expand income eligibility for Medicaid to 138 percent of the federal poverty level and provided states a federal match for expenditures to cover 100 percent of the state Medicaid costs for this new cohort through calendar year 2016, after which the match will gradually decrease to 90 percent of these costs in calendar year 2020; and

Whereas, New Jersey chose to provide this expanded Medicaid coverage to its citizens starting in January 2014¹,¹ and more than 500,000 New Jersey residents have received health insurance coverage through this new expanded eligibility; and

Whereas, In total, over 1.7 million New Jersey residents, or 20 percent of the State's population, receive their health insurance coverage and gain access to vital health related services through the Medicaid program; and

Whereas, New Jersey's total Medicaid budget equals $17 billion in combined State and federal dollars; and

Whereas, In addition to providing access to health insurance for individuals, the Medicaid program provides critical financial resources for health care providers and institutions ¹[who] that¹ care for the ¹medically¹ underserved ¹[,] by¹ supporting the region's health care infrastructure through the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program; and

Whereas, New Jersey institutions anticipate receiving over $500 million in Medicaid DSH payments in 2016 to support the provision of services to the ¹medically¹ underserved and develop the region's health care infrastructure; and

Whereas, Like its partner states throughout the eastern region, New Jersey has benefited from the State and federal partnership which manages the Medicaid program; now, therefore¹,¹

 

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    New Jersey, as one of the partner states in the CSG Eastern Regional Conference, strongly supports the continuation of the state and federal partnership managing the Medicaid program in New Jersey and in the nation.

 

     2.    The ¹[Legislature] General Assembly of the State of New Jersey respectfully¹ urges the President and the Congress of the United States to continue the state and federal partnership managing the Medicaid program to ensure the continuation of the provision of health care services to needy New Jersey residents.

 

     3.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to ¹the President and Vice President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives,¹ each member of Congress representing the State of New Jersey, the Commissioner of ¹the federal Department of¹ Health and Human Services, ¹and¹ the Chief Administrator of the ¹federal¹ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ¹[, and the President of the United States]¹.