Furloughed federal employees and their family members who seek emergency care at hospitals or urgent care centers in the Hackensack Meridian Health network will get help with their out-of-pocket expenses starting Friday.

The 17-hospital system said it would waive the copayments and deductibles for furloughed employees and their insured family members. Those are the fees insured persons pay before their coverage begins.

New Jersey is home to about 5,000 of the 800,000 employees who have been without work or a paycheck since the partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22.

Story continues below gallery.

“We believe that we need to step forward and do our part to help furloughed federal employees and their families,’’ said Robert C. Garrett, CEO of the system, which reaches from Bergen to Ocean counties.

“We have seen the financial impact the federal government shutdown has had on many families and we want to ensure that people will receive the care they need without worrying about the cost,” Garrett said.

Impact of shutdown:Here's where the government shutdown is hitting New Jersey the hardest

More:As shutdown continues, FDA is scrambling to maintain inspections

Workers in federal agencies including Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, Transportation and Treasury have been affected. Employees of the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) have been working without pay.

Hospitals in the system include Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood.