2020 | Restoring & Sustaining Small Employer Health Insurance Coverage in Post-Pandemic New Jersey

A virtual policy forum sponsored by Rutgers Center for State Health Policy with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This virtual policy forum focused on the current state of small employer group health coverage and the potential devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on these employers and their ability to provide coverage to their employees.

Questions that were explored included:

1) What are the immediate regulatory levers that can be accessed to stabilize the market?;

2) Does the planned transition to NJ's State Based Health Exchange offer new opportunities to help stabilized the small group market?;

3) What strategies should be pursued to make the Individual Health Coverage Program (IHCP) a viable alternative for small employees who lose coverage?;

4) How can key stakeholders (payers, providers, business associations) contribute to the reestablishment of a stable and affordable small group coverage market?; and

5) What additional research and analysis is needed to inform policy solutions?