Department of Banking and Insurance warns federal rule and expiring tax credits could shrink Get Covered New Jersey enrollment

The Department of Banking and Insurance presented its fiscal 2026 operating budget and policy update Wednesday to the New Jersey Assembly Budget Committee, warning that a proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rule and the likely expiration of enhanced federal premium tax credits could reduce enrollment and make coverage less affordable on the state-run exchange, Get Covered New Jersey.

Commissioner, speaking to Chairperson Pinter Moran, Vice Chair Park and the committee, said the department’s operational budget for fiscal year 2026 is $65,300,000 and stressed the state’s role in expanding access to coverage since launching Get Covered New Jersey in November 2020. “During the most recent open enrollment period, over half a million New Jerseyans signed up for health coverage,” the commissioner said, citing record enrollment and growth in state subsidy programs that lower monthly premiums.

The department highlighted three central threats to the exchange’s recent gains. First, the temporary increase in federal premium tax credits enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act will expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress acts. The commissioner said, “If Congress does not act to extend subsidies, New Jerseyans will lose $500,000,000 in federal tax credits, and the cost of health coverage will increase for nearly 455,000 New Jersey residents.” The department estimated an average annual premium increase of about $1,260 per person without congressional action.

Second, the department said, the Centers for…