New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed 14 bills into law on Wednesday, including one that makes a big Obamacare change that will impact all New Jerseyans. He also vetoed three bills, including one that drew the ire of environmentalists who said it would bring more hazardous waste to be treated in New Jersey.

Murphy signed legislation, A-3380, that restores the mandate - just for New Jerseyans – that everyone must obtain health insurance or pay a tax, though it's not completely clear how much that fee will be. Congress essentially gutted the federal Obamacare mandate in December. Under the individual mandate, most Americans were required to purchase health coverage, but starting Jan. 1, 2019, there is no fee associated with the individual mandate. The new state mandate law will take effect on Oct. 1.

The mandate fee imposed by the law will be assessed and collected in the same manner as the income tax, with the commissioner of Banking and Insurance establishing a program for determining whether to grant exemptions for "religious conscience or hardship," lawmakers say. The "New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act" was part of a two-bill legislative package, sponsored by Assembly members John McKeon, Carol Murphy and Pamela Lampitt, that lawmakers say will "protect New Jersey from President Trump's effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and preserve the health care benefits provided by the law to the state's residents."

The two new laws maintain the viability of the individual mandate and establish a reinsurance fund to help stabilize the insurance market, the lawmakers say. The ACA has expanded health insurance coverage to more than 800,000 New Jersey residents, including some 340,000 who purchased policies through the individual market. "President Trump's efforts to destabilize the health insurance market will only lead to higher costs for New Jersey residents unless we take common sense action to preserve the benefits the Affordable Care Act has been providing to our residents," said McKeon, D-Essex, Morris. "We cannot stand idle as our residents are put at risk. We fought long and hard to get more people insured in New Jersey, because it's both fiscally and socially responsible. We will continue that fight because it's the right thing to do."

The other new law, A-3379, allows for a reinsurance program to bring more stability to an insurance market that has been destabilized by the actions and inactions of the Trump administration, lawmakers say.

The law, designated as the "New Jersey Health Insurance Premium Security Act," directs the commissioner of Banking and Insurance to apply for a federal waiver of provisions of the ACA to support a reinsurance program to control premiums in New Jersey.



"Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans rely on the ACA to get the comprehensive medical coverage they need and deserve," said Murphy, D-Burlington. "These laws will ensure that the necessary infrastructure remains in place for the ACA to thrive." It also will establish a board that will work with the state insurance commissioner to design the plan. The board will come up with a fee structure to assess insurance carriers to fund the program and the money that will be held in a newly created fund under the Treasury Department.