New Jersey's uninsured rate has fallen more than one-third since before the federal deadline to sign up on HealthCare.gov, The Bergen Record reported last night.
The number of people without health insurance in New Jersey has fallen to its lowest level since 1990, dropping more than a third even before the late March surge in insurance sign-ups, according to a report released on Thursday.
An estimated 430,000 people in New Jersey gained coverage from October through March, said the report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy.
More below the fold.
The number of New Jersey residents who gained coverage by the end of the Affordable Care Act’s first enrollment period on April 1 probably exceeds 430,000 because the survey was completed March 6.
“These findings suggest that uninsurance in New Jersey is at its lowest level since 1990,” the study authors said.
“It’s exciting and an encouraging trend,” said Katherine Hempstead of the Johnson Foundation, a co-author. “But we need to see some more quarters of data and then see then see the census data to really see the trends.”
The reporter unfortunately drags out the old "but how many have paid?" But overall, this is more good press for Obamacare. Not that good press has gotten the same attention as all the negative press, which kind of explains the whole reason people still rely on the worn out tropes like "but how many have paid?"