Corzine Signs NJ Employer Health Insurance Reporting Measure

August 24, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - New Jersey state health officials will now release an annual report listing Garden State employers with at least 50 workers and/or dependents on state-sponsored health programs as provided for under a new bill.

Governor Jon Corzine signed into law S. 539, which provides for the annual report to be issued September 1 starting this year by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services, Business Insurance reported.

The workers and dependents covered by the new law are those either in the state Medicaid program or in FamilyCare, a state program for low-income families who lack employer insurance, according to the news report.

While the New Jersey State AFL-CIO supported the measure, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the New Jersey Business & Industry Association opposed it. The NFIB warned that it could lead to mandated health insurance. The New Jersey business group described the bill as “nothing more than an effort to harass businesses at a time when most are already struggling to keep up with skyrocketing health insurance costs.”

Colorado Governor Bill Owens in June vetoed a similar proposal (See CO Governor Vetoes Two Health Care Bills ), calling the bill “well intentioned.”

“Not only does this bill threaten existingColorado jobs by pressuring employers into potentially unaffordable expenditures, SB 227 also would put Colorado at a competitive disadvantage in terms of job creation,” Owens wrote in his veto message. “Companies would be hesitant to bring family sustaining jobs to Colorado if they knew the state was injecting itself so directly and publicly into their business decisions.”

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