New Jersey health insurance abortion mandate for larger companies takes effect

A New Jersey law mandating large employer health insurance markets to provide comprehensive abortion coverage took effect on September 18. The implementation follows coverage of individual and small employer markets, which took effect earlier this year.

The mandate, which requires all health plans provided by employers with at least 50 workers to offer comprehensive abortion coverage, was a result of the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act passed in January 2022. That act required the state Department of Banking and Insurance to conduct a study and determine whether or not health insurance providers should be required to cover abortion. In its study, released in November, the Department concluded that “state law protects the right to terminate a pregnancy without government interference” and that “abortion is part of comprehensive insurance coverage for reproductive care and should reasonably be included in the range of services coverage by health insurance.”

The study found that providing abortion coverage would add a nominal expense to premium costs, increasing them by between 0% and 0.1%. More telling, it argued that those increases would be offset by potential savings from fewer prenatal, delivery, and postnatal expenses — a chilling concession that it’s cheaper to kill a child than provide medical care for that child and his mother through pregnancy and birth.

“Insurance coverage for reproductive health services is essential to expanding access to comprehensive care,” acting Banking and Insurance Commissioner Justin Zimmerman said in a statement. “Today’s enactment reduces barriers to these critical health services, ensuring that health insurance carriers regulated by the department provide abortion coverage without exceptions.”

Gov. Phil Murphy also praised the mandate, which will lead to greater and easier abortion access.

“New Jersey remains a leader in safeguarding reproductive rights and health care services. Implementation of this requirement across department-regulated plans will provide access to abortion services without exceptions limiting coverage — reaffirming a woman’s ability to make medical decisions about her reproductive health,” he said in a statement. “This rulemaking is another step forward in ensuring residents can access the reproductive care they both need and deserve.”