In June Murphy signed a bill to create a state version of this mandate, making New Jersey only the second state to do so; he also approved a measure to create a federally funded reinsurance system that would help Garden State insurance companies offset the burden of their most costly medical claims.
These “two big policies adopted this year have given a big shot of adrenaline to our market,” noted professor Joel Cantor, founding director of Rutgers University’s Center for State Health Policy, who has studied the law. “The impact of the reinsurance program is already clear” in the drop in premium prices anticipated for the 2019 individual market, Cantor said, for which state officials predict a 9.2 percent decline. These savings benefit all consumers in this market, he noted, not just those receiving federal subsidies as part of the ACA.