New Jersey health insurance is undergoing a Medicaid overhaul which may affect thousands of residents.  According to the article “NY Health Officials Unveil Medicaid Overhaul” by Josh Lederman on Forbes.com, residents can expect to see some big changes to their Medicaid health plans.

New Jersey health officials are working towards tightening the eligibility requirements for people who enroll in Medicaid which is part of Governor Christopher Christie’s effort to save over $300 million by reforming health care for low income families and the disabled.  The new proposal is looking to deny coverage to new adult applications if they earn more than $5317 per year for a family of three.  They are also looking to move more eligible adults from fee-for-service plans into managed care plans.  They would require a $25 copay when the ER is visited for non-emergency purposes.

Although children should not be affected by the changes to health insurance plans NJ, 23,000 uninsured adults could end up losing eligibility and affecting their whole family.  Christie’s proposed budget plan for 2012 includes a target of $300 million in savings through Medicaid alone.  He did not give details as to where the money would come from directly.  Some minor details were revealed in an Assembly Budget Committee meeting where New Jersey’s top officials for health and human services discussed the framework of some of the upcoming changes.