Tony Ondrusek, Publisher

New Jersey is joining a small but growing list of states that wants to institute universal health insurance coverage by throwing money at the issue (i.e. raising taxes) instead of understanding the perceived problem and working out a viable solution. And the excuse legislators are using is that the new law is “for the children.” The second phase would come out later this year and force everyone in the state to carry health insurance.

According to figures, nearly 1.5 million New Jersey residents don’t have health insurance. Some would say that means they don’t have access to health care, but it is an apples to oranges argument. Not having health insurance does NOT mean that a person does not have access to health care, as is evidenced by the millions each year who use the local emergency room as their primary care physician.

But that is a different argument.

Without exploring ways to get more health care to low-income residents, the state instead is simply going to mandate that everyone must have coverage or face a fine, and the state is going to monitor compliance by forcing residents to disclose their health insurance status on their tax return forms. Sure, there won’t be any fraud there, and the state will certainly be able to track everyone, and by the way, I have a swamp in Florida you might be interested in buying…

The argument has begun over whether tax cuts will pay for the bajillion-dollar-a-year program, or if taxes will be raised. Either way, it is neither a cost-effective nor efficient way to expand health insurance coverage, and at best is a misguided effort that will have New Jersey residents paying through the nose.