PERTH AMBOY – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which expands the FamilyCare safety net for uninsured New Jerseyans and takes the first step to ensure affordable health care coverage for all State residents was signed into law by the Governor today at a ceremony at Raritan Bay Medical Center.
“Today’s bill signing marks a commitment from the State of New Jersey – that we will not turn our backs on the 1 million working poor State residents who are one major health crisis away from bankruptcy,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, and Chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “With this new law, we are recognizing that the Garden State must spend its health care dollars smarter, and that the old system of reimbursing hospitals for providing emergency room care as a way to fund our obligation to the uninsured is dysfunctional and unsustainable. Through this law, we are saying that the dream of affordable, quality health care for all New Jerseyans is within reach, and that our State can be a national leader in providing access to appropriate care for the uninsured.”