ROBERTS HAILS FAMILYCARE EXPANSION

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr, today praised Governor Jon S. Corzine's expansion of New Jersey's successful FamilyCare plan to provide affordable health care coverage to thousands of additional uninsured children.

The Governor's initiative, announced this morning, will provide a buy-in option to parents who do not currently have health insurance for their children and do not meet the program's income guidelines for free enrollment.  The cost to parents to enroll their child in FamilyCare will be less than the expense for private coverage.

Roberts (D-Camden) released the following statement:

"The Governor today gave an early Christmas present to countless families whose children otherwise would have fallen through the cracks in New Jersey's health insurance system.

"Now, more children than ever will be able to leverage FamilyCare's enormous power to do what so many of their peers have taken for granted:  visit a doctor.

"FamilyCare is one of New Jersey's great success stories, and opening its doors even wider is the right thing to do.

"The Governor has given New Jersey's children a head start, but we must continue working to ensure that all residents have affordable, quality health care placed within their grasp.

"Ensuring access to health care for every New Jerseyan, regardless of age, is one of the most pressing issues facing the Legislature in the months ahead."

--30--