Applying research recently published by the Institute of Medicine, the uninsured of New Jersey cost our state an estimated $3 billion annually.² This far exceeds the expense the state would incur to provide full health coverage. The costly burden of the uninsured is shared among individuals, employers and health care providers.

Last year alone, New Jersey hospitals documented more than $800 million in charity care.³ Of that total, taxpayers provided $583 million to hospitals, an increase of over $200 million from years past. The Charity Care Program was created to offset the fiscal impact hospitals incur while meeting their legal obligation to turn no one away regardless of their ability to pay. The program is funded entirely with taxpayer dollars; an inadequate, inefficient use of limited resources.

This year it is anticipated that hospitals will provide more than $1 billion in charity care. During the next three years, if nothing is done to reduce the number of uninsured, we can expect charity care provided by hospitals to rise over $1.5 billion.⁴ The gap between the State reimbursement to hospitals and the actual cost of providing charity care continues to widen, forcing hospitals to shift a portion of the remaining cost on patients that have private insurance. As this cost shift escalates, the premiums of the privately insured rise exponentially. Unaffordable premiums push more people out of coverage and only further exacerbate a broken system.

In addition to the Charity Care Program, multiple millions of additional tax dollars are spent trying to meet the health care needs of New Jersey residents. Direct grants to hospitals alone account for about $350 million of the State budget this year. This proposed health care reform plan invests in New Jersey's future by reinvesting health care dollars in a manner that will leverage additional federal funding, reduce the number of uninsured and improve health outcomes.