Family care health insurance available

NEWTON — Project Self-Sufficiency offers open enrollment appointments for New Jersey Family Care, the health insurance plan offered by the state of New Jersey to eligible children and low-income parents, every Wednesday morning, from 9 to 11 a.m., and every Thursday evening, from 6 to 8 p.m. New Jersey Family Care is a comprehensive health insurance program that provides a wide range of services, including visits to a physician, eye glasses, hospitalization, lab work, x-rays, prescriptions, regular checkups, mental health, and dental coverage. Depending on family income, there may be restrictions on certain services. Coverage in the health care plan is available for children 18 years of age and younger, as well as parents who meet income eligibility requirements. Eligibility is based on family size, monthly income and other factors. Effective July 1, 2011, many individuals who were previously enrolled in the NJ Family Care/Medicaid program were switched to a Managed Care plan. Care for these individuals is now coordinated under one offour HMOs. Effective Aug. 1, there will be no more medical exemptions of mandatory HMO enrollment in NJ Family Care. Interested applicants are encouraged to call Project Self-Sufficiency or visit the New Jersey Family Care website, www.njfamilycare.org, for more information. Individual appointments at Project Self-Sufficiency are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Parents at higher income levels may have the option of purchasing health insurance for their children at reasonable rates through the New Jersey Family Care ADVANTAGE program. Immigrant parent/caretakers who are legal permanent residents of the United States must have had that status for at least five years in order to be eligible for NJ FamilyCare. Applicants are required to bring proof of income, citizenship information, social security number, and information about existing health coverage to the enrollment appointment. Project Self-Sufficiency is located at 127 Mill Street in Newton. To register, or to find out more about enrollment in the New Jersey Family Care program, call Project Self-Sufficiency at 973-940-3500.