New Jersey Takes Steps to Sure-Up Individual Mandate
June 4, 2018
On Wednesday, May 30, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law NJ A3380 (18R) which will preserve the individual mandate penalties for New Jersey residents. The law is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2019.
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Included in the Act was a provision reducing penalty liability to $0 for the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate beginning in 2019. Fearing that the zeroing of the individual mandate’s penalty liability would cause high rates of adverse selection (i.e. healthy people forgoing purchasing insurance) in New Jersey’s individual market, New Jersey lawmakers took steps aimed at keeping healthier people in the market.
It is likely that other states will consider taking similar measures leading into the 2019 individual market open enrollment season.
To read more about NJ A3380 (18R), please click here.
