Crowd–Out In NJ FamilyCare Ann Clemency Kohler Deputy Commissioner New Jersey Department of Human Services August 29, 2007
NJ FamilyCare & Crowd-Out Original crowd-out period at the inception of the program was 12 months. In January 1999, crowd-out was reduced to 6 months In November 2005, crowd-out was reduced to 3 months Reducing crowd-out has not had a significant impact on enrollment
Crowd-Out Criteria Applies only to SCHIP/NJFC not to the traditional Medicaid program Exceptions: Regardless of income, if prior coverage was lost through no fault of the family Familys income is less than 200% FPL & they are purchasing coverage from an individual plan or COBRA Familys income is between % FPL & COBRA has expired
Affect of Reduced Crowd-Out Period In SFY, 388 applicants were found to have insurance in the 3 months prior to applying for NJFC…….just over 1/2% of applicants applicants were found to have health insurance at the time of the application…….3.2% of total applications
Changes to Crowd-Out SCHIP Bills will not affect New Jersey crowd out policy Recent CMS letter requiring 1 year crowd out will cause havoc with our program and could jeopardize coverage for thousands of children.