By Carole Johnson

It's a new era for New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy with a state budget that invests in communities and fairness for working families, but that's just part of the story. The governor's stronger and fairer New Jersey is also a healthier New Jersey.

The new state budget signed by the governor includes several steps to finally update and modernize New Jersey's Medicaid program. This means better health care options for the 1.7 million New Jerseyans enrolled in this vital program.

The governor's changes will help children with autism and individuals with diabetes. We will expand family-planning benefits, improve efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and strengthen our ability to combat hepatitis C. And, we'll do more to help people quit tobacco.

Together, these improvements are a significant investment in comprehensive health care coverage while tackling some of the biggest public health challenges in our state. Plus, they make sense from a fiscal standpoint.

The new and expanded Medicaid benefits include:

Preventing diabetes: The budget adds new Medicaid coverage of diabetes benefits to prevent, treat and manage one of the leading chronic diseases in our state. Medicaid will focus on diabetes self-management education and training, medical nutrition therapy and the nationally recognized strategy to cut diabetes risk called the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Helping New Jerseyans quit tobacco: Under the new budget, Medicaid enrollees no longer need to wait for health-plan approval to get access to medications to help them quit tobacco. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, and barriers to quitting must come down.

Supporting children with autism spectrum disorder: The budget ensures that Medicaid will cover autism spectrum disorder benefits. New Jersey previously covered only select services for a small population in a pilot program, but it's estimated more than 10,000 youth in our state have an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. The budget gives young people with Medicaid coverage access to appropriate screening and treatment.

Combating the opioid epidemic: Under the budget, Medicaid will offer a more complete benefit package to assist those who are battling opioid and other substance-use disorders. In addition to new services such as detox and residential treatment, the budget includes new investments in outpatient treatment.

Removing barriers to hepatitis C treatment: The budget lifts restrictions on access to drugs that can cure hepatitis C, allowing individuals to receive this curative treatment when they are diagnosed rather than having to wait until they experience liver damage. New Jersey's Medicaid program previously restricted who was eligible for treatment, and lagged behind other states, but now provides more comprehensive access to treatment for Medicaid enrollees.

Expanding family-planning benefits: The budget will expand Medicaid family-planning services to residents with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. These newly eligible recipients will have access to a package of family-planning-related services. The budget also implements postpartum Medicaid coverage of long-acting reversible contraception, allowing New Jersey to remove a restriction limiting access to one of the most effective forms of contraception.

Going forward, the Murphy administration will continue to identify opportunities to improve Medicaid benefits and remove unnecessary barriers to care. Building a stronger and fairer New Jersey for all residents includes ensuring that Medicaid works for New Jersey families -- that is what we intend to continue to do.

Carole Johnson is commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services. She previously served as a senior health policy adviser for President Barack Obama, managed health care policy issues for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and worked on Capitol Hill for members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

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