Bill Text: NJ S1758 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain parents and caretakers to be enrolled in NJ Family Care if they meet income eligibility criteria.*
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-12-17 - Reported from Senate Committee as a Substitute, 2nd Reading [S1758 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S1758-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires NJ FamilyCare to treat earned and unearned income in same manner when calculating gross family income for parents and caretakers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning eligibility for NJ FamilyCare and supplementing P.L.2005, c.156 (C.30:4J-8 et al.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. For the purposes of determining income eligibility for parents or caretakers in the NJ FamilyCare Program, the Department of Human Services shall not establish any limits on the amount of unearned income a parent or caretaker may receive if a parent or caretaker's gross family income is within the income eligibility limits of the program, and shall treat all sources of income, both earned and unearned income, in the same manner.
b. Any parent or caretaker: (1) who was continuously enrolled in the NJ FamilyCare Program prior to March 1, 2010, (2) whose gross family income remains at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, and (3) who was disenrolled from the program after March 1, 2010 because of modifications made by the department in the calculation of gross family income, shall be reenrolled in the program and shall not be treated as a new applicant.
c. As used in this act, "unearned income" includes, but is not limited to, income from such sources as child support, unemployment, and other government benefits.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill seeks to ensure that the income of parents and caretakers who, as of March 1, 2010 were continuously enrolled in, are currently are enrolled in, or apply for, NJ FamilyCare benefits is assessed in a fair and equitable manner by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
Specifically, the bill provides that for the purposes of determining income eligibility for parents or caretakers in the NJ FamilyCare Program, DHS shall not establish any limits on the amount of unearned income a parent or caretaker may receive if a parent or caretaker's gross family income is within the income eligibility limits of the program, and shall treat all sources of income, both earned and unearned income, in the same manner. "Unearned income" includes, but is not limited to, income from such sources as child support, unemployment, and other government benefits.
Further, the bill provides that any parent or caretaker: (1) who was continuously enrolled in the NJ FamilyCare Program prior to March 1, 2010, (2) whose gross family income remains at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, and (3) who was disenrolled from the program after March 1, 2010 because of modifications made by DHS in the calculation of gross family income, shall be reenrolled in the program and shall not be treated as a new applicant.
Effective March 1, 2010, DHS significantly limited eligibility for parents and caretakers in the NJ FamilyCare Program and subsequently published most of the changes in eligibility in the New Jersey Register on July 6, 2010. DHS, however, did not specify in that publication that it also revised how income eligibility for parents and caretakers would be calculated.
Under new DHS rules, if a parent or caretaker's unearned income (typically from unemployment insurance or child support payments) exceeds 30% of their gross family income, the parent or caretaker would not be eligible for NJ FamilyCare, even though their gross family income was below the income eligibility standard. This change has affected parents and caretakers (who were already participating in NJ FamilyCare as of March 1, 2010) upon their annual renewal of eligibility, who were told they no longer qualify for the program even though their gross family income is still within the allowed limits because their unearned income exceeds 30% of their total income. The change in calculating gross family income also has prevented, and continues to prevent new applicants for NJ FamilyCare (whose gross family income is less than 133% of the federal poverty level) from qualifying for the program if more than 30% of their income is considered unearned income.
