Jersey Care Changes Now In Effect, Affecting Many In The Kehilla

jersey carIt has been brought to our attention that significant changes in NJ Family Care have recently gone into effect. Some of the changes can have an impact on many families in our town. “Due to New Jersey’s current budget situation, cuts to the NJ Family Care program are being made as of March 1, 2010 which affect parent/caretaker coverage only” is a quote from the Nj Family Care website. Click here to be redirected to the NJ Family Care website to view the changes.

For your convenience, we have added some of the important information below.

  • Immigrant parents/caretakers otherwise eligible for NJ FamilyCare who did not have legal permanent residence status for at least five years can no longer be enrolled in NJ FamilyCare.
  • Parents/caretakers requesting NJ FamilyCare coverage for themselves face a much lower income eligibility level than previously. For details, please see the Who is Covered page and Income Eligibility and Cost.
  • Currently enrolled parents/caretakers who are disenrolled will not be able to re-enroll. It is important to pay premiums on time and to submit renewal applications when expected.
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67 COMMENTS

  1. I was on the phone with them for a while today, and of course noone even knew what they were talking about there. But it seems that when you renew you will need to be eligible by the new income guidelines (although they often will give you a certain amount of time that you will be covered in case your family status changes) and no new parents are being excepted at all right now.
    WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR AND COMPLAIN!

  2. don’t write to the governer! we voted in a republican, this is part of that platform cutting spending we can’t pick and choose when its good for us!

  3. Where is the LRRC on this story ??? why have they not mentioned a word about the upcoming cuts or at least notify the kehilla about this??

  4. This is finally a step in the right direction. We should call the governor and respectfuly ask him to continue cutting services, so that maybe we will eventually get out of the mess that we are in.
    There was once a time in our country that people would have sold the shirts off of their backs rather than take welfare. Look around now and you will see many well-dressed men and women driving around in late model vehicles, while they are on the receiving end of free WIC, HUD, healthcare, etc…
    We need to think over our priorities and set ourselves straight if we want life to return to some semblance of normalcy at least for the next generation.

  5. want to make cuts go ahead, but how about cutting our taxes too!!!!
    why the out of control spending by govt pensions etc…but the Taxes have not and will not come down.

  6. Although the governor may be right in making these cuts, to send a letter to somebody telling him that in 3 weeks he is being thrown off insurance just because he has not lived here for 5 years is not right. People should call up and complain about that.

  7. I work I’m not in kolell my wife works too and guess what Without jersey care I would not afford health insurance for my family !! I hope they change these rules quick. write to the GOV write to our state senators if they are cuting services let them cut my property tax too.

  8. How come when I got married 36 yrs. ago, I wasn’t on any health care program and we managed on about $450 a mo. income, rent and health and car insurance included? We did get food stamps, that’s about all the help we got from Uncle Sam. We had no HUD or HEAP etc. What happened since then? I think HUD for one drove up the amount landlords could charge for rent. By getting us used to depend on gov’t. programs the gov’t. is enslaving us. These programs are NOT good for us if we don’t want to be a Socialist, Communist country.

  9. They first have to put the cuts in effect for a few years in order to start lowering your taxes. We are in the hole for many billions of dollars. Eventually we will get back on our own feet and it will be well worth it.

  10. The issue is not weather the Vaad was right or not the bottom line is many in the kehilla could be affected and loose their health insurance. for the vaad to gloat and say I told you so is discusting. we should join bachdus and fight the cuts.

  11. the point is there are hundreds of jewish families relying on nj family care now, that cant afford health care !! a little consideration before you start heaping praise on what the gov did!!!

  12. They have been playing shtick the last year and a half ago under coezine. For example they don’t count any expenses on a rental property so if you have one house that you rent out for 1500 and your mortgage is 1500 they still say you make 1500 a month even though you don’t make anything in reality. They also started counting rental income as unearned income even if you manage the property on your own. This affects the adults because even if you meet the income guidelines if your unearned income is more than like 600 or so per month it disqualifies the adults.(there is no such unearned income rule for children) these changes have been affecting many for the last year as they have been throwing people off for these reasons. So this is just a continuation of the stuff they started over a year ago.

  13. This is the consequence for all of you being limbaugh republicans! he can afford health ins and anything else under the sun.. How about all the complainers should call limbaugh for a hand out.. the governor said he will cut you where just to busy listing to rush and did not even know what you voted for.

  14. #20, obviously you don’t know what you’re talking about! A person tries to make money by putting down $20,000 (borrowed), and having a $100,000 mortgage, is not making too much money with his rental.

  15. When I called up the social services the other day for something and was shmoozing with a case worker, she was telling me that she does not understand Lakewood. She said that Lakewood is the only place in Ocean County (there are 31 municipalities in Ocean County) where there are hundreds (if not thousands) of people who own real estate and are on NJFC. She said that all of the case workers that work there have the same question. While I happen to know that people in Lakewood live differently then the average household (expenses for a frum family is more and yungeleit in kolel have very low income), but to try to advocate specifically for our kehilla regarding this is not so poshut.

  16. Do you realize that because of Obama (sent by H’) we got the biggest earned income credit ever under any president! He put in programs that most of us are eligible to receive at least $2000 more this year. Read your tax return.

  17. To: Anon:
    March 9, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    “WRITE TO THE GOVERNOR AND COMPLAIN!”

    Why? There isn’t enough money to keep all the programs running. Thank God we have a Governor who is not afraid to make some tough decisions.

  18. I am in Kollel, and I plan on working very soon. I don’t know how I will go off all my programs. I need to earn $35,000 minimum just to break even, from all the gov’t programs that I will lose.

    But I know it’s the right thing to do. Thank you Rush Limbaugh for educating me. Instead of just living the rest of my life depending on the Democrats for my monthly handouts, I will take a deep breath, get off the programs, get a job, and hopefully make it on my own.

    Thank you again Rush Limbaugh for showing me the light. No thanks to everyone else who brainwashed me to live off the government. And hopefully thanks to Governor Christie for shtuping me to get off the programs.

  19. #20 you don’t know the first thing about real estate a rental property could mean your rent pays the mortgage.its not income at all the down payment could have been very little. with the same logic owning a home should disqualify you from healthcare too.

  20. No surprises here. Christie promised to do exactly this on the campaign trail. He is simply being true to his word. I seem to remember a whole lot of posters back in November saying the VAAD is using scare tactics because Christie can’t cut Jersey Care even if he wanted to because it’s a federal program. Maybe the VAAD actually does know a thing or two. Maybe the guys in the coffee room telling everyone to vote for christie didn’t really have their facts right. How shocking!

  21. Is it possible they were reading TLS and not listening to Rush? How can any reasonable person blame everything on Rush and conservative Republicans? When you have a stomachache from eating too much do you blame that on someone else too? Where do you stop? Do you stop?

  22. I have bought a very good plan for my wife and myself (we are in the high 20’s) which was recommended to us by the LRRC for less than $400 per month!! It is affordable for many.

  23. B’h we have a governor who is doing the right thing.I work day and night to support my family and other peoples programs.Its time people started realizing that these hand outs have to come fron somewhere!!! Its called a hard working tax payer who has a hard enough time making ends meet because of all the taxes for hand outs.If we could finally get rid of the king of all socialists (OBAMA) things might get a little better.

  24. The vaad wanted corzine for personal favors NOT because he wasn’t going to cut jersey care .it was happening over the last year while corzine was Governer they were throwing people off NJ family care.

  25. A person can buy a. Small modest home. A year later he he looses his job. He can’t afford his mortgage and PROPERTY TAXES of 1500 a month so he moves to a cheap rental and rents out his home for 1500 to cover his mortgage. Jerseycare will then throw him off because he now makes an additional 1500 a month on their books. Or a guy buys 1 cheap rental unit for 50k puting down 5k and getting 750 rent making maybe 100 a month profit after expenses he will get thrown off because he makes 750 unearned income a month. Even if he doesn’t make another penny a month from anywhere else. Who says you can’t try to make a living and still have jerseycare? If a guy starts investing in real estate untill he actualy makes a profit he is eligible. Would you say that someone that owns a store should not be eligible even if he doesn’t make any money? After all he OWNS a store…

  26. The bottom line is that they have been changing rules the last year and a half to try to squeeze off as many people as they can. This is just a continuation of this policy. Does antbody remember about 8 years ago by the last recession they stopped taking adults altogether and any that got off couldn’t get back and that was under the democrats. When they changed it back a few years later they did it in phases starting with very low income limits the current income limits have only been in affect a few years and everyone knew it was just a matter of time until they switched it back. The vaad took all the credit when they started taking adults again.

  27. Just for the record there are many people who own rental properties simply because they canot afford to live in the house . When the market was going crazy many people were legitimately concerned that they would never be able to live in a house if they waited for the prices to keep skyrocketing . the prospects of remaining a renter forever with a large family and skyrocketing rents did not appeal to them . So they went and borrowed money from relatives and bought a house that they could not afford to live in and rented it out to try to cover their expenses . They were hoping that eventually when their finances would get better they would be able to afford to move in . These houses were not bought with the intention of being an investment or making money . In most casses the owners are losing money and have to pay back the loans for the downpayments to their relatives . But people panicked when they saw the prices rising every day . Its hard to blame them for that .

  28. the worse part about this is he is giving state workers a 7 percent increase.
    The Ag should investigate this case the average person can’t make the week even those NOT in Kolel.

  29. Christie is a a snake I did not vote for him. He is taking care of all state workers giving them a raise on top of the benefits they all get all this coming from our tax dollars yet crucial services are being cut. there is no two sets of rules here cuts should be made across the board. now is not the time for raises.

  30. To #36… I don’t get it. Is being a slumlord the only available job for you? Why should the rest of us pay for your health insurance because you didn’t give 2 minutes thought on how to support your family before you got married? The mantra of the Yeshiva world that “I will learn as long as I can” is broken! And then do what? That is the problem you and others are facing. I don’t blame you, you are a product of this delusional mentality. It’s time for everyone to wake up! There is no such thing as Government supported programs. It is Tax payer supported programs… and that is all of us. You can’t on the one hand complain about your taxes and on the other hand want more handouts. Enough is enough. If you decide not to make Toraso Umnaso, then get an education and a job that will adequately support your large and growing families. It is not a healthcare issue it is an employment issue. Stop looking for the quick buck and get a good job… like your parents and grandparents before you did!

  31. And another point… if you/your parents can afford to buy you/your wife 2 custom Shaitels (4k-6k), a Chason watch (1k – 2k), cufflinks (1k) and all the other nonsense that has become the Torah ShBaal Peh of the Kollel life, they can afford to supplement your health insurance costs. Not to mention, down payments, cars, Leichter, Atara, and all the other “necessities” of life. Our priorities are warped!

  32. they just look at your bottom line income. they don’t take into consideration any expenses. hey- we all need at least 80g to survive these days, but we have a lot of expenses, such as tuition, that they don’t care about. if i could afford it, i would love to get reg. insurance. but for now jersey care is all i can get, and its not all that bad so far.

  33. I have low costing insurance for the Olam.
    If you have been notified of this NJ Care change and have lost your coverage, please call me right away.
    732-497-2273
    I will help you to get settled with something affordable.

    Shmuel

  34. Too much government in our lives. Too many programs = slavery. Doesn’t anyone get it? Whose money is the government spending on all these programs anyway? They don’t have any money. It is our money, the taxpayer’s money.

  35. to # 44 and anyone else who cares to listen…. #44 you make a great point. When my wife and I got engaged 4 years ago, both living in Lakewood, we looked around at the madness and made a commitment to ourselves, Hashem and our future children to stop the craziness.

    During her kallah classes, her teacher gave her a list of “REQUIRED” items that must be exchanged and purchased, including 2 custom shietels, choson watch, leichters, yichud room gifts, becher, etc. She said to her ” I hope you have $10,000 because that’s really the minimum that you can “get away” with spending without people asking questions.

    Here is what we did instead:

    She went to Macy’s and got me a beautiful and functional watch for $150.

    I got her two beautiful pewter candelabras for $65

    In the yichud room, she got gorgeous pearl earrings that i got on line using coupon codes for under $50

    We went online and spent $250 on 10 of the most beautiful bandannas/snudes/tichels money could buy. Sure, she gets strange looks from the other woman who gasp at the sight of a lady on shabbos not wearing a custom georgi wig, but instead has her hair modestly covered with a nice embroidered fabric. Sure, she was shocked when she asked someone at shul where they could recommend she go for a late megillah reading and they told her “well there aren’t really any ‘modern’ shuls around here’ – I suppose she is modern because her hair covering is probably more tznius than any wig out there. After all the mitzvah is to cover your hair modestly, not replace it with someone else’s air that is more perfect than your hair ever was.

    At the end of the day, we spend under $1000 for all these “required items” and never felt better about it.

    Our sanity and money saving didn’t really stop there. After we had the baby, we bypassed all the boutique shops and went to Burlington for a nice and safe costco car eat for $75. Yes, i know, to be anyone who is anyone you have to spend $500 on some European brand that looks like a spaceship, but we are more excited about the money saved.

  36. To #43
    What Chutzpah of you to call someone a slumlord? is there something wrong with going into real estate?
    not all of us are living off our parents/inlaws like you, count your blessings and don’t talk down to another yid for not making a parnasah how would you feel chas veshalom if you were in his shoes?
    BH you have it all going for you not all of us are as lucky. but keep in mind its a galgal hachozer.

  37. My husband has his own business our insurance premiums just went sky high. We aren’t eligible for Jersey care and can’t afford the premiums what do we do now? I don’t blame anyone in kollel for staying and being on all the programs it’s the only way to survive these days!

  38. A point for all of you: Just to clarify, depending which plan of NJFC one is one and how ones real estate property is filed on ones tax return will determine the amount of income NJFC will calculate is being made from the rental. To keep things brief, if one owns a property and lives in it, then any rental income received from the property will be counted as full income (even if it goes towards the mortgage or expenses). The logic here is that income received off of ones primary residence is counted as full income despite expenses, just as there are no NJFC deductions for home owners with expenses. Many people choose not to report this rental income but fail to realize that should their tenant apply for NJFC, they would end up in trouble. For those who receive their NJFC through the county office, if one owns a property that is not his primary residence and files it as schedule C on his tax return (business- point to note, speak to your accountant to see how a business will affect you on your tax return) and rents it out, it is considered a rental and he may deduct the interest on the mortgage, the property tax, home owners insurance and routine repairs,it is questionable which routine repairs will be considered and will be determined case by case. The down side of a business is that NJFC has a failing business rule that one may only own a business producing under $375 a month for up to two years before he is terminated from NJFC, so if your not making at least $375 a month of profit then your NJFC is subject to termination after 24 months of coverage. If one owns a property not as a primary residence and files it as schedule E on his tax return (asset, this is how most people file) then it is considered an investment and no expenses are deducted. For those on NJFC through the state, for the most part the expenses deducted listed for Schedule E properties are deducted on most rentals (Although not if you live in the home and rent a portion out- then the full rental income is income as mentioned before).

    As far as unearned income is concerned that generally is only applicable should adults have private health insurance. Should one be over the unearned income limit and not have private health insurance, he should be able to remain on the program in most cases.

  39. A humorous comment from Anonymous… Firstly, I was replying to #36 who said “Or a guy buys 1 cheap rental unit for 50k putting down 5k and getting 750 rent making maybe 100 a month profit after expenses he will get thrown off because he makes 750 unearned income a month.”. Now pray tell, who is he buying a “cheap rental unit” for? You or your friends? Yes… I stand by my comment that he is a slumlord.

    No, I don’t have a problem with someone going into real estate, but we’re not talking about people who are “going” into real estate at all. We are talking about people who are trying to make a quick buck by borrowing a down payment and renting these “cheap units” to anyone who will pay. That my friend is a slumlord and not someone “going into” real estate!

    As for your comment about my living off of my parents/in-laws is laughable. For the record I am a father, grandfather, and a proud father and father-in-law of outstanding children. I worked hard for where I am in my life and of course had a lot of Seyatah Dishmayah. I never took a nickel from my parents or in-laws nor was it ever expected. I was offered a Choson watch and asked for a set Rambam instead. No one ever heard of a custom Sheitel and we were all very happy with whatever we got (Someach Bichelko). Nobody paid for our rent, healthcare, or anything for that matter. I was learning in Kollel and my wife was a nursery school teacher and we survived and grew from our experience. Perhaps it was a different world some 30 years ago. I learned in Kollel, put myself through college and graduate school and whatever I am Zocheh to have was of course from the Ribbono Shel Olam but also from that Hishtadlus. Before I started dating my father told me the following… “ there are 3 criteria that one must have before you are allowed to start a family… 1. Have a grounding in your Emunas HaShem. 2. Be accomplished in your Limud HaTorah. 3. Have the ability to support a family”. It is the model I have used in my life and the life of my children. Perhaps you should consider it too…

  40. we have to stop living above our means. We don’t have to live in th elap of luxury and buy every latest fad and gadget and buy the classiest look alikes for all our kids for every Yom Tov. We don’t have to send our kids to after school clubs, and go on expensive winter vacations and chol hamoed trips. It is time to economize and hekp those who have less than us. We have too much gashmiyus in our lives nowadays.

  41. Njfamilycarerules thanks for that clarification. I was aware of the rule that if you file as schedule c they will count the expenses but they don’t let you switch so if you have filed previously as schedule D then you can’t switch the next year. The crazy thing is that the guy that has a bunch of properties and files as a business will get to count his expenses but the guy who bought one house to live in later when he can afford the mortgage will not get to count his expenses. As far as the last thing you mentioned I think the unearned income rule is applicable for adults even without other insurance am I wrong?

  42. To Mr.torah truths:
    Does nj familycare have rules about how one tries to make a living? And who are you to decide how one is alowed to try to make a living? This is a discussion on nj familycare rules not for you to have a platform to tell us all your kruma shittos on the kolel lifestyle and how you feel is the best way to make a living. Who says your way is the right one. Just because you do things one way doesn’t mean its the right way or the only way.

  43. To #59… I’m afraid that the current state of affairs where a large percentage of our community needs to rely on taxpayer funded (AKA Government Funded) programs speaks for itself. As to whether my position is “Crum”, I am reminded of what Rav Schwab ZT”L once told me. “ There is a very fine line between “Crum” and “Frum”, it is the little line that separates a “Chuf” from a “Pei”… I’ll leave it there.

    You have every right to chose how you wish to provide for your family, but when your choice falls on me to financially support you, through higher taxes or direct financial support, I believe I then have a say.

  44. To mr torah truths:

    We are talking about medicaid here. Most people that are on the program are low income low class and they don’t have real estate. Do you rather one be like that or try to make a living doing real estate? Why are you picking on the guy doing real estate? What about the guy stocking shelves in shoprite? He has no financial future in what he is doing. He should go to college. Why is the guy doing real estate worse than any other low income person with a shoddy job or no job? You know its not exactly torah truth to get on here and scream that all should go to college. Its actualy pretty far from the torah truth.

  45. One more point. I’m not even talking about a “real estate investor” I’m talking about someone that bought a house to live in and with him and his wife working hard at their jobs they still can’t afford the mortgage so they rent it out a few years till they can afford it and they can’t make it without jerseycare (believe it or not people can work and still not have enough money) so don’t be so bigshotty. I am very happy that you are bentched with parnossa but don’t be so calous to the plight of those that aren’t as matzliach as you and it doesn’t mean they are not trying. And by owning one house for the future they can loose their jerseycare.

  46. To Mr. for your info:

    I have no issue with someone trying to make a living and I’m not critical of those that try. What I am saying is that a person needs to have a “Chesbon” in life. The concept that I’ll worry about how to support my family when I have 6 kids and owe every “Gemach” in town is distorted and the source of the problem. The reason people are left with a bad choice or a worse choice (low income jobs) is not because of their capabilities, they are very capable, it is because of a lack of foresight and/or education. The Erlichah B’nai Torah that knock on my door daily or are reduced to go from Shul to Shul (at least 10 every Minyan) are not there because they are incapable or unable to support their families, they are there because we have a system that produces this reality.

    As to whether my position is “Torah Truth” or not, I’ll direct you the Mishnah that requires teaching your son an Umnis (profession). It is precisely this lack of adherence to our Chazal that produced the problem we face. You have every right to have a different Hashkafah and live your life accordingly. However, you have no right to tax me and everyone else because of your position. So please, don’t talk to me about Frumkeit.

    I am very sympathetic to people who are on Medicaid or other taxpayer funded programs, I know it is not easy for them or very conducive to their self esteem, but let’s be clear, it is the system that produces this and this must be changed. Instead of calling the Governor to complain about reasonable cuts we should look internally and fix our system so that Medicaid and othe such programs are solvent to support the people they were designed for… the needy, not those who don’t chose to think about their future.

  47. Fine so fix the system but what in the world does this have to do with a person owning a rental property??? It seems you have oent up shittos abd dayos that you jumped on the sliughtest oportunity to spew it out at everyone even though it has no connection to the point I was making about the changes in the rules. You have a problem with the concept of people coming on to programs because of lack of planning. That has nothing to do with a person owning a house that he rents out.

  48. I would explain it again, but I’m affraid that if you can’t figure out the connection from the thread you wont understand my response either.

Comments are closed.