The New Health Dialogue

Perth Amboy, New Jersey—the City by the Bay, the birth place of Bon Jovi, the punchline of James Thurber's "More Alarms at Midnight" and yesterday, the site where New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law a series of new health reform initiatives, as reported by the AP.

We were in New Jersey last March, where New Jersey State Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the health committee, laid out a two-phase plan for covering all New Jerseyans. And last week we blogged about the passage of "phase one" of those reforms in the New Jersey Legislature. A quick recap, the new legislation:

• Expands NJ FamilyCare, the state's health insurance program for low-income children and some adults
• Mandates that all children in the State have health care coverage through public or private means.
• Reforms aspects of the individual and small group market
• Raises the eligibility age for young adults to stay on their parents' health plans

In a press release, Corzine called the signing "an historic day for health care in New Jersey," and Vitale stated: "We need to spend health care dollars smarter, and this new law puts us on track to get better health results cheaper for the 1.5 million New Jerseyans who are one major illness or injury away from bankruptcy."

Vitale's right. Too many Americans are livin' on a prayer when it comes to health care, delaying necessary treatments and hoping to avoid serious illness. But unlike Tommy and Gina, when it comes to health reform it does make a difference whether we make it or not. Initiatives like New Jersey's—which passed the state senate unanimously—are encouraging because they show Democrats and Republicans can come together, even in times of fiscal duress, to pass meaningful health reform. We may not be half way there to health reform, but if enough politicians are willing to take each other's hands in support bipartisan measures, we'll make it. We swear.