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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

Tag: New Jersey

Doctors and Medicaid Patients – New Jersey

N.J. doctors least likely to accept new Medicaid patients, survey says, By Susan K. Livio, August 18, 2013, Star-Ledger: “Beginning in January, the Affordable Care Act is expected to open the door to 300,000 low-income New Jerseyans to get health coverage through Medicaid, but a recent survey found the majority of Garden State doctors won’t be willing to treat them. Fifty-four percent of primary care doctors and 56.5 percent of specialists in New Jersey said they did not plan to accept any new Medicaid patients in the coming year — more than any other state, according to a July report in the monthly publication Health Affairs…”

SNAP Application Process – New Jersey

N.J. among slowest with food-stamp applications, By Alfred Lubrano, July 7, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “New Jersey is one of the slowest states in the nation in getting food stamps to needy people. Its performance is so poor, in fact, that the federal government is directing the state to improve, according to an examination of federal data by The Inquirer. States are required by U.S. law to get food stamps to people within 30 days, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the food-stamp program, now called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Any state that cannot process more than 90 percent of its SNAP applications in that time must devise a plan that brings its timeliness up to 95 percent, USDA rules stipulate…”

Kids Count Report – New Jersey

  • Poverty up 20 percent among N.J. children 5 and younger, report says, By Susan K. Livio, May 22, 2013, Star-Ledger: “More than two years after the nation’s deep recession formally ended, a new report released today says the sharp economic downturn continued to drive an unprecedented number of New Jersey families into poverty, forcing them to rely on such safety net programs as food stamps, reduced-cost school meals programs and Medicaid. Almost one-third of New Jersey’s children 5 and younger were living in low-income homes in 2011 — defined as earning at or below 200 percent of the poverty level, or about $37,000 for a family of three — according to the report, called ‘Kids Count,’ which was prepared by Advocates for Children of New Jersey and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national nonprofit and nonpartisan family research organization…”
  • South Jersey counties see increase in poor children, By Rita Giordano, May 22, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Camden and Gloucester counties both saw an increase in the percentage of children living in poverty from 2010 to 2011, while in Burlington County, median family income dropped and more than half of the county’s families paid more than the recommended 30 percent of income for housing, according to a new study released Wednesday..”