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New Jersey has 25 community health centers across 187 sites serving 670,196 patients — the #14 FQHC state by patients outside California and Texas. As an expansion state, Medicaid anchors the safety net, and H.R. 1 work requirements plus the December 2026 funding cliff are the key risks.
New Jersey is a Medicaid-expansion state where NJ FamilyCare covers more than 1.8 million residents — nearly half its children — and roughly 25 community health center organizations (139+ satellite sites) serve over 600,000 patients. The dominant 2025-2026 story is defensive: the state Department of Human Services projects that H.R.1/OBBBA work requirements and six-month redeterminations (effective Jan 1, 2027) plus an emergency-Medicaid match cut could push up to 300,000 residents off coverage and cost the state billions, so Gov. Sherrill's budgets pour money into enrollment systems to keep eligible people insured. Against that federal headwind, the state held FQHC uncompensated-care support at $32 million and is raising Medicaid primary-care rates toward 70% of Medicare — while community health centers also brace for the December 2026 federal Community Health Center Fund cliff.
Patient-weighted across the 25 centers with UDS 2024 data.
New Jersey's NP scope expanded dramatically: on March 30, 2026, Gov. Sherrill signed S2996/A4052 granting qualified advanced practice nurses with more than 5,000 hours of clinical experience permanent independent authority to provide primary and behavioral health care and prescribe medications without a joint protocol with a collaborating physician (aesthetic/cosmetic services excluded) — moving NJ from joint-protocol prescribing toward full practice authority just before pandemic-era waivers expired April 2.
Medicaid community-engagement (work) requirements under CMS-2454-IFC (80 hrs/month, full implementation Jan 1, 2027) plus expiry of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits (end of 2025) threaten New Jersey's expansion population and FQHC Medicaid revenue.
5 primary-sourced findings on New Jersey FQHC policy and financing.
New Jersey's Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services has stood up an OBBBA implementation page confirming that, starting January 1, 2027, adults ages 19-64 in the Medicaid expansion (Alternative Benefit Plans) must meet community-engagement (work/volunteer/school) requirements and renew coverage every six months instead of annually; some non-citizen immigrants may lose eligibility starting October 1, 2026. Commissioner Sarah Adelman/Cha's 2026 budget testimony states about 30% of beneficiaries face the new rules and that more than 300,000 New Jerseyans could lose coverage (with models as low as 165,000 if systems work well). This is the single largest threat to FQHC patient volume and revenue in the state.
NJ Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services (DMAHS)Governor Mikie Sherrill's budget dedicates more than $10 million to strengthen coordination among state agencies, counties, and vendors and to modernize Medicaid eligibility/enrollment systems (including the Conduit workflow, county incentive payments, and legal/professional support) ahead of the Jan. 1, 2027 work-requirement and six-month-renewal deadline — an explicit effort to keep eligible residents from losing NJ FamilyCare to paperwork. State officials warn the federal changes could eventually cost New Jersey roughly $3.3 billion annually in hospital aid. For FQHCs, robust state enrollment infrastructure is the main lever to protect insured patient volume.
New Jersey MonitorOn March 30, 2026, Governor Sherrill signed S2996/A4052, permanently granting qualified advanced practice nurses with more than 5,000 hours of clinical experience independent authority to provide primary and behavioral health care and prescribe medications without a joint protocol with a collaborating physician (elective aesthetic/cosmetic services excluded). The law made permanent the autonomy temporarily allowed under pandemic-era waivers, passing days before those waivers expired April 2. For FQHCs and behavioral-health-integrated clinics — heavy NP employers — this materially eases recruitment, supervision overhead, and access in shortage areas.
Office of the Governor of New JerseyNew Jersey's FY2026 (July 2025-June 2026) budget continues $32 million in state support for uncompensated care at Federally Qualified Health Centers, a direct safety-net line item, and invests roughly $45 million in combined state and federal funds to raise Medicaid reimbursement for pediatric and adult primary care from an average of about 58% of the Medicare fee schedule to 70%. The rate increase improves the economics of FQHC primary-care visits, while the $32M continues to backstop care for uninsured patients — both meaningful given looming federal Medicaid cuts.
McCarter & English (NJ FY2026 Dept. of Health Budget Hearing analysis)New Jersey's Cover All Kids program provides NJ FamilyCare to all income-eligible children under 19 regardless of immigration status; since launch the state has enrolled more than 47,000 previously uninsured children. An effort to extend the model to adults — S779, which would have covered pregnant undocumented residents and their infants up to age one — failed to advance and died at the close of the 2024-2025 session (Jan. 12, 2026). With H.R.1 simultaneously threatening some immigrants' eligibility starting Oct. 1, 2026, immigrant coverage is squarely on the state's 2026 agenda and a core FQHC patient-mix issue. Note: the pregnant-adult expansion is from primary bill-tracking and is best framed as proposed/stalled, not enacted.
New Jersey Cover All Kids (NJ DHS) / NJ Legislature S779By patients (HRSA UDS 2024). Tap for the full profile.
| Organization | Patients | Sites | Uninsured | Revenue (990) | District |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakewood Resource & Referral Center Lakewood | 89,939 | 6 | 12.6% | $61M | NJ-04 |
| North Hudson Community Action Corporation Union City | 72,724 | 11 | 44.01% | $65M | NJ-08 |
| Community Health Care Inc. Bridgeton | 55,480 | 20 | 16.29% | $54M | NJ-02 |
| Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers, Inc. Marlton | 53,081 | 11 | 24.9% | $41M | NJ-03 |
| Zufall Health Center, Inc. Dover | 51,978 | 16 | 49.71% | $54M | NJ-11 |
| Newark Community Health Centers Inc. Newark | 51,444 | 7 | 19.31% | $40M | NJ-08 |
| Star Community Health Inc. Phillipsburg · Look-Alike | 49,426 | 23 | 14.43% | — | NJ-07 |
| Camcare Health Corporation Camden | 34,734 | 10 | 28.47% | $33M | NJ-01 |
| Ocean Health Initiatives, Inc. Lakewood | 30,461 | 8 | 21.05% | $27M | NJ-04 |
| Henry J. Austin Health Center, Inc. Trenton | 24,217 | 11 | 32.92% | $29M | NJ-03 |
1 hospital/university/county-operated: 1 county.
| District | Representative | Sites |
|---|---|---|
| NJ-02 | Jefferson Van Drew | 39 |
| NJ-10 | LaMonica McIver | 19 |
| NJ-08 | Robert Menendez | 18 |
| NJ-01 | Donald Norcross | 17 |
| NJ-12 | Bonnie Watson Coleman | 16 |
| NJ-06 | Frank Pallone, Jr. | 16 |
New Jersey ranks #14 by FQHC patients and #20 by organization count among the 57 national-breadth states/territories (excludes California and Texas, which have dedicated dashboards). All 25 centers depend on the federal Community Health Center Fund, authorized only through December 31, 2026.
FQHC data from the HRSA bulk-sites file + UDS 2024 + IRS 990. State policy profile via NACHC/KFF/AANP. Intelligence items cite primary sources. Federal items apply to all states; state items are New Jersey-only. Updated 2026-06-03.