CONAWAY BILL TO VERIFY INCOME FOR HEALTH CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS CLEARS ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Require Income Verification for FamilyCare, Medicaid

(TRENTON) - The Assembly today passed legislation Assemblyman Herb Conaway, MD, sponsored that would curtail abuses of the state's health-care programs for the poor by requiring enrollees to verify their incomes and authorizing state officials to audit recipients.                  

"It is unconscionable that a program intended for very poor children and families is being milked by the wealthy," said Conaway (D-Burlington), a practicing physician and chairman of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee.  "We have a responsibility to ensure that this program provides vital health services for New Jersey's most vulnerable residents, underserved children and adults."

Conaway crafted the measure in response to a recent state audit that found that NJ FamilyCare failed to verify income eligibility and allowed 873 people with gross incomes over $85,000 to enroll in the program.  NJ FamilyCare provides coverage for very low income families that earn up to $21,200 for a family of four.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
The bill (A-2708) would require income verification to ensure only eligible families and children are enrolled in Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare.

The measure would enhance verification requirements for the respective programs' applications and renewals to clarify that an applicant must submit one recent pay stub from every employer or source of income.

In addition, the bill would require, rather than permit, the Commissioner of Human Services to establish retrospective auditing or income verification procedures that would allow for the comparison of records from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Department of the Treasury. 

The bill also would require that eligibility renewal forms for Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare be submitted prior to the date when a recipient's annual eligibility expires.  Currently, renewal forms can be submitted no later than 30 days after the date eligibility expires.

According to the state audit there were at least three enrollees who reported net gains over $700,000 on their tax returns. 

NJ FamilyCare is a state and federally funded health-care program that was established a decade ago to insure very low income families with incomes up to 350 percent of the federal poverty level. 

The measure was passed 80 to 0. It now heads to the Senate for further consideration.

-- 30 --