Health insurance for diabetics in New Jersey

by Tony Novak, revised March 22, 2012

There were 479,600 diabetics reported in New Jersey as of the end of 2007, according to the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of diabetics is expected to increase significantly each year through at least 2025. New Jersey statute NJ ST 17:48-6n enacted in 1995 requires regulated health plans to include certain specified coverage for diabetes. Yet diabetics face difficult challenges finding and keeping individual health insurance. For those not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or employer-provided group coverage, the health plan choices are severely limited. Freedom Benefits offers a range of reference materials to help explain the laws that govern this area of health insurance as well as a list of specific insurance plans and other coverage options.

This article is intended to serve as a quick checklist of available options and not as a detailed discussion of each possibility. While the insurance plans listed on this page are available to diabetics, all have some exclusions, limitations and waiting periods for specific medical benefits, treatments and diabetic supplies. The details for each insurance plan will be listed separately on the enrollment Web pages.

State Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan - requires a 6 month waiting period without major insurance prior to eligibility although overlapping limited benefit coverage is allowed. Average cost $442 per month*
New Jersey Individual Health Insurance Carriers - open to all, major medical. Average cost $697/month*
Value 24 Hour Accident coverage - this is not insurance, open to all, renewable, supplemental. Average cost $55/month*
Consumers Direct Accident Insurance from Zurich American - Supplemental accident insurance up to $10,000, open to all, renewable. Maximum cost $55/month*
Consumers Direct Accident Insurance from Zurich American - Supplemental accident insurance up to $10,000, open to all, renewable. Maximum cost $55/month*
PPO medical discount plan - Preferred provider network discount pricing on diabetic supplies, doctors and hospital charges. THIS IS NOT INSURANCE, open to all. Average cost $30/month*
Health clinics in New Jersey available to patients without insurance - Cost may be based on income.
OnlineNavigator - personal professional help with health insurance and the insurance exchange, available to all. Free to Freedom Benefits members, $80 for non-members
"Health insurance with Diabetes" - legal background and health insurance reform issues that affect diabetics
More information on New Jersey health insurance and regulations

While all of these health insurances plans do have substantial gaps in diabetes coverage due to policy deductibles, waiting periods, benefit exclusions, co-payments It is usually possible to overlap two or more of the insurance choices in order to improve overall coverage and reduce net out-of-pocket costs. Supplemental health insurance makes direct payments, also referred to as defined or scheduled cash benefits, directly to the policyholder in addition to benefits that are covered by other medical insurance. While this does not directly cover the diabetes treatment, it does reduce the overall out-of-pocket medical costs of the covered person. This can be useful, for example, when a major medical policy has strong maximum benefits but a long writing period and high deductible, whereas a supplemental policy with lower benefits has no deductible and a shorter waiting period. For clarification and confirmation of stacked supplemental policy benefits, check the "Coordination of Benefits" provisions of the supplemental policy being considered.

^*Average cost is provided for illustrative purposes only and will vary depending on many factors including your location, age, health, sex, family status. For our purposes, we use the lowest estimated premium for a 45 year old non-smoking single male living in the city of the New Jersey capital selecting the most popular insurance plan with a $1,000 deductible (where available). The information on this page is compiled from publications of third parties including the American Diabetes Association and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Because insurance information changes frequently, verify all information with the primary health plan enrollment sources.

This web site is independently owned and managed by Tony Novak operating under the trademarks "Freedom Benefits", "OnlineAdviser" and "OnlineNavigator". Opinions expressed are the sole responsibility of the author and do not represent the opinion of any other person, company or entity mentioned. Tony Novak is not an agent, broker, producer or navigator for any federal or state health insurance exchange but may provide uncompensated advice, reviews and referrals to these official resources. Novak is compensated as an accountant, adviser, affiliate consultant, marketer, reviewer, endorser, producer, lead generator or referrer to some of the commercial companies listed on this site. Information is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed.