Gov. Phil Murphy visited Hackensack Meridian Health JFK Medical Center in Edison on Thursday to sign nine new health care-related bills into law.

The governor says that the bills are his latest move to safeguard the provisions of the Affordable Care Act in New Jersey. He says that the Department of Banking and Insurance will work with this new office to track costs that residents pay for the services they get -- including help with addiction or mental illness.

"Getting at sources of depression, suicide, treating mental health issues on par and in parity with physical health issues. That's the model that we need to aggressively continue to get to,” Murphy said.

Other health care protections include no-cost preventative care and contraception, prohibiting exclusions for pre-existing conditions and allowing children to continue to stay on their parents' health plan until age 26.

Mental health and maternity care is also incorporated as part of the essential benefits.