{"id":2631066,"date":"2026-07-17T08:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-pushing-medicaid-new-jersey-fines-businesses-whose-employees-use-it\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T08:46:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:46:02","slug":"after-pushing-medicaid-new-jersey-fines-businesses-whose-employees-use-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-pushing-medicaid-new-jersey-fines-businesses-whose-employees-use-it\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Fines Businesses Whose Employees Use Medicaid"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fafter-pushing-medicaid-new-jersey-fines-businesses-whose-employees-use-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2631066&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a recent law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature that imposes an annual fee on large employers (with 50 or more employees) who have employees on Medicaid. This fee varies based on the number of Medicaid-enrolled employees adn their dependents, with exemptions for part-time, seasonal workers, and those with certain disabilities. The law&#8217;s stated purpose is to raise revenue to fund Medicaid, but critics argue it is effectively a tax that encourages dependence on goverment assistance rather than promoting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nebraska-expands-medicaid-for-new-moms-who-cant-afford-private-health-insurance\/\" title=\"Nebraska broadens ... for low-income new mothers without private health ....\">private health coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The author criticizes the law&#8217;s emphasis on Medicaid expansion and highlights choice options, such as premium assistance programs, which subsidize private insurance instead of direct Medicaid coverage. These programs, although available under existing federal law, are underused due to lack of awareness and promotion. the article suggests that promoting premium assistance could help <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >low-income individuals retain private coverage<\/a> and reduce reliance on Medicaid, aligning better with policies aimed at self-sufficiency. Ultimately, the author contends that the law is more about increasing Medicaid rolls and government dependency than helping individuals achieve health care independence.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When Democrats say something is about health care, it often isn\u2019t about health care. That\u2019s the lesson of a law the New Jersey Legislature recently enacted.<\/p>\n<p>Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/new-jersey-makes-a-medicaid-money-grab-b6faa209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> that the measure \u201casks any company with 50 or more employees on Medicaid \u2026 to cover their workers, which they should do anyway, or pay a fine.\u201d But if she wanted to promote enrollment in private health coverage, she and her colleagues had better avenues to pursue than a blunt tax instrument. Sherrill should call the new measure for what it is: a cash grab to fund an ever-expanding welfare state.<\/p>\n<p>The New Jersey <a href=\"https:\/\/pub.njleg.state.nj.us\/Bills\/2026\/A5500\/5324_R1.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">measure<\/a>, a version of which California is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/new-jersey-makes-a-medicaid-money-grab-b6faa209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> considering, imposes an annual fee (translation: tax) on employers with at least 50 employees receiving health coverage through Medicaid. Employers with 50-249 employees on Medicaid will pay $325 per year for each employee, and each dependent, on Medicaid; employers with 250-499 employees on Medicaid will pay $525 annually for each employee and each dependent; and employers with 500 or more employees on Medicaid will pay $725 per year for each employee and each dependent enrolled in Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>The bill exempts part-time and seasonal workers, as well as those with intellectual, developmental, and\/or physical disabilities from being included in the assessment. The latter exemptions get at a key point that at least one progressive think tank made in <a href=\"https:\/\/newjerseymonitor.com\/briefs\/nj-legislature-bill-employers-workers-medicaid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposition<\/a> to the bill. While the measure ostensibly prohibits employers from using a beneficiary\u2019s Medicaid status \u201cas a basis for denying to the applicant or employee the opportunity to obtain or maintain employment,\u201d such prohibitions may prove difficult to enforce in practice.<\/p>\n<p>If Sherrill and the legislature want to keep beneficiaries off the Medicaid rolls \u2014 their purported objective in creating this tax \u2014 a law dating back to 1990 provides one way to do so. Specifically, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/OP_Home\/ssact\/title19\/1906.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 1906 of the Social Security Act<\/a> gives states the authority to require potential Medicaid beneficiaries to obtain their benefits via premium assistance, provided that the alternative form of coverage is cost-effective.<\/p>\n<p>Premium assistance refers to using Medicaid dollars to subsidize private coverage, often health insurance provided by employers. The concept is simple: rather than spending (for instance) $5,000 to fund direct coverage for an individual, Medicaid would instead spend a smaller amount (say, $2,000) subsidizing premiums, deductibles, and co-payments for someone\u2019s employer-based plan.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t always that simple, of course. Even before Obamacare, only a <a href=\"https:\/\/view.officeapps.live.com\/op\/view.aspx?src=https:\/\/www.allhealthpolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/RowlandPresentation-1403.ppt&#038;wdOrigin=BROWSELINK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plurality<\/a> of low-income workers had an offer of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cbo-reports-show-socialized-medicine-would-make-americans-poorer-and-sicker\/\" title=\"CBO Reports Show Socialized Medicine Would Make Americans Poorer And Sicker\">employer-provided health coverage<\/a>. And in some cases, subsidizing employer coverage may cost more than Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>Yet premium assistance programs \u2014 which would keep people in private coverage rather than on a government-run plan \u2014 are obscure, not well-advertised, and hardly used. Data I obtained several years ago from Louisiana indicated that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/long-after-the-pandemic-medicaids-crisis-persists-healthcare-policy-148e136b?mod=opinion_lead_pos9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fewer than 1,000 individuals<\/a> enrolled in that state\u2019s program, at a time when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/medicaid-expansion-has-louisianans-dropping-their-private-plans-11559944048\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">thousands of Louisianans each month<\/a> were dropping private coverage to go on Medicaid. Louisiana\u2019s sparse take-up likely reflected the fact that the state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/long-after-the-pandemic-medicaids-crisis-persists-healthcare-policy-148e136b?mod=opinion_lead_pos9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spent only $11,730<\/a> promoting the program over a two-plus year period, meaning that few people knew the program even existed, let alone how to enroll.<\/p>\n<p>If Sherrill wanted to encourage better take-up of private health coverage, she could have promoted premium assistance options for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/d-c-protesters-rally-outside-of-u-s-capitol-to-pressure-lawmakers-for-bigger-stimulus-checks\/\" title=\"D.C. protesters rally outside of U.S. Capitol to pressure lawmakers for bigger stimulus checks\">low-income residents<\/a>. She also could make clear that, when individuals have an offer of employer-sponsored coverage that is cost-effective for Medicaid to subsidize, the individual must receive their Medicaid benefits via premium assistance. In other words, New Jerseyans not just shouldn\u2019t drop private coverage to enroll in \u201cfree\u201d Medicaid \u2014 they won\u2019t be permitted to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the text of the <a href=\"https:\/\/pub.njleg.state.nj.us\/Bills\/2026\/A5500\/5324_R1.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Jersey bill<\/a> made its object clear: \u201cthe purpose of raising revenue to defray State Medicaid costs.\u201d Rather than promoting private health coverage, lawmakers <em>want<\/em> to make residents dependent on Medicaid \u2014 and force businesses to pay for the ever-growing welfare rolls.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0got it right when it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/new-jersey-makes-a-medicaid-money-grab-b6faa209\">no<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/new-jersey-makes-a-medicaid-money-grab-b6faa209\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">t<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/opinion\/new-jersey-makes-a-medicaid-money-grab-b6faa209\">ed<\/a> that \u201cthe goal of today\u2019s progressives is to make more people dependent on government, not to help them become self-sufficient.\u201d Mikie Sherrill\u2019s silence on premium assistance \u2014 a better way to deliver benefits to low-income individuals \u2014 proves it.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NJ law reveals Democrats&#8217; true health care motives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2631067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mikie-Sherrill-scaled-e1784123287810.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[82842,38199,11975,33096],"class_list":["post-2631066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-fines","tag-employee-rights","tag-medicaid","tag-new-jersey"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mikie-Sherrill-scaled-e1784123287810.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2631066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2631071,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631066\/revisions\/2631071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2631067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2631066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2631066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2631066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}