Committee Statement to Senate, No. 1646 — New Jersey Easy Enrollment Health Insurance Program (2022)

Summary

This is the Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate, No. 1646, State of New Jersey, dated March 14, 2022. The committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1646, which requires the Department of Banking and Insurance to establish and operate the New Jersey Easy Enrollment Health Insurance Program. The statement says the program would use State income tax returns to identify individuals interested in minimum essential coverage and to assess eligibility for insurance affordability assistance. The bill requires the State Treasurer to include a checkoff box on the individual income tax return form, and requires a special enrollment period of not shorter than 30 days. It takes effect immediately and applies to tax returns filed for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022, and is identical to Assembly Bill No. 674 (1R) as reported on February 3, 2022.

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     SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

                    STATEMENT TO

                  SENATE, No. 1646

 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                     DATED: MARCH 14, 2022

    The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably Senate Bill
No. 1646.
    This bill requires the Department of Banking and Insurance (the
department) to establish and operate the New Jersey Easy
Enrollment Health Insurance Program (the program).                  The
department is required to integrate the program with the State-based
health insurance exchange, and may enter into an agreement with a
third-party for operation of the program. The purpose of the
program is to:
    (1) establish a State-based reporting system to provide
information about the health insurance status of State residents
through the use of State income tax returns and approved eFile
vendors to identify individuals and determine whether an individual
is interested in obtaining minimum essential coverage;
    (2) determine or assess, as feasible, whether an individual who
is interested in obtaining minimum essential coverage qualifies for
insurance affordability assistance;
    (3) proactively contact an individual who is interested in
obtaining minimum essential coverage to assist in enrolling the
individual in insurance affordability assistance and minimum
essential coverage; and
    (4) maximize enrollment of eligible individuals in insurance
affordability assistance and minimum essential coverage to improve
access to care and reduce insurance costs for all residents of the
State.
    The bill requires the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, in
coordination with the Commissioner of Human Services, the
Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, and the State
Treasurer to develop and implement systems, policies, and practices
that encourage, facilitate, and streamline determination of eligibility
for insurance affordability assistance and enrollment in minimum
essential coverage to achieve the purposes of the program.
    The department is required to assess or determine, as
appropriate, eligibility for insurance affordability assistance as soon
as possible after an individual files a State income tax return on
which the individual indicates that the individual or another
individual indicated on the tax return is seeking health benefits
coverage.
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   To the extent practicable, the department may verify an
individual's eligibility for insurance affordability assistance with
information on a State income tax return and other data from third-
party data sources, without requesting additional information from
the individual.
   The bill provides that, if additional documentation from an
individual is required to establish eligibility for insurance
affordability assistance, the department must take certain steps to
obtain the information while limiting the burden on the individual.
   Under the bill, the department is permitted to make, or refer to
the Department of Human Services to make, an assessment or
determination, as appropriate, of eligibility for the State Medicaid
program or the NJ FamilyCare Program. The department may
utilize and share with the Department of Human Services any
information provided to the department in making assessments or
determinations.
   The bill provides that the department is to establish a special
enrollment period for the New Jersey individual health insurance
market to facilitate the objectives of the program. The enrollment
period is to last for a period of time, to be determined by the
department, that is not to be shorter than 30 days.
   Information about the enrollment period described in the bill is
to be communicated to the public and affected individuals through
measures that may include language in the instructions for the State
individual income tax return, if inclusion of the language is
approved by the State Treasurer.
   The bill requires the department to develop data privacy and data
security safeguards to govern the conveyance, storage, and
utilization of data under the program.
   The bill requires the State Treasurer to include on the individual
income tax return form a checkoff box for indicating whether the
individual, and any individual claimed as a dependent on the tax
return, is not covered under minimum essential coverage at the time
the tax return is filed.
   The bill requires the State Treasurer to include with the income
tax return form a separate form that is required only for individuals
who file a tax return indicating that an individual is not covered
under minimum essential coverage at the time the tax return is filed.
   The separate form is required to include two checkoff boxes.
One checkoff box is to give an individual who files a tax return the
choice to have the department determine eligibility for insurance
affordability assistance for the individual filing the tax return and
any other individual included in that tax return who does not have
minimum essential coverage, and obtain additional data that may be
relevant to that determination. The other checkoff box is to allow
an individual who files a tax return the choice to not have the
department make that determination for the individual filing the tax
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return and any other individual included in the tax return who does
not have minimum essential coverage.
   The bill requires the State Treasurer to waive the State shared
responsibility tax applicable to months of the year that the tax
return is filed for any taxpayer who chooses the checkoff box
indicating the taxpayer wishes the department to determine the
individual’s eligibility for insurance affordability assistance. If the
taxpayer fails to enroll in minimum essential coverage and maintain
that coverage in each month following the enrollment period, the
taxpayer is liable for any payments to which the taxpayer would
have otherwise been subject.
   The bill requires the Department of Labor and Workforce
Development to implement a system through which an individual
who has filed a claim for unemployment insurance benefits may, as
part of the claim filing application, indicate that the individual is
interested in obtaining minimum essential coverage and consent to
participate to the sharing of relevant information collected by the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development with the
Department of Banking and Insurance, and the Department of
Human Services to determine whether the individual qualifies for
the State Medicaid program or the NJ FamilyCare Program, or any
other insurance affordability assistance and to support minimum
essential coverage outreach and enrollment efforts.
   The bill takes effect immediately and applies to tax returns filed
for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022, unless the
State Treasurer determines, after consultation with the Department
of Banking and Insurance, that the implementation of the certain
provisions of the bill is not administratively feasible for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2022, in which case the
Treasurer may delay implementation to begin as soon as feasible
thereafter.
    As reported, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 674 (1R) as
amended and reported by the Assembly Financial Institutions and
Insurance Committee on February 3, 2022.


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