Yesterday, U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker and the head of the New Jersey Hospital Association joined New Jersey Policy Perspective on a press conference call to discuss the devastating New Jersey impact of the Senate’s proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act as outlined in a new NJPP Fact Sheet.
“For years, Republicans railed against the Affordable Care Act and pledged they would repeal and replace it with something better. But under the plan they put out last week, the only people who are better off are millionaires and health insurance company executives,” said Sen. Menendez. “Page by page, this Republican plan forces Americans to pay more for less comprehensive health care coverage. It eviscerates Medicaid, leaving over half a million low-income New Jerseyans with no options, and abandoning vulnerable children and pregnant women, families living paycheck to paycheck, and seniors with long-term care needs.”
“This week, the independent CBO shattered any illusion that the Senate Republican health repeal bill is any less cruel and craven than the version passed by the House,” said Sen. Booker. “As NJPP clearly points out, under the Senate Republican plan more than 500,000 New Jerseyans will be left without coverage, with our state losing $22 billion in federal funding over seven years. This repeal plan doesn’t just target the vulnerable, the elderly and the poor. It targets all of us. It undermines our character as a country and our highest ideals.”
“We can’t lose sight of those in New Jersey who would be most affected by the BCRA and its radical changes to the Medicaid program, including one in every three children in our state, more than 205,000 people with disabilities and more than half of the state’s nursing home residents who rely on Medicaid,” said New Jersey Hospital Association President and CEO Betsy Ryan. “The Better Care Reconciliation Act is most definitely not better for New Jersey residents and their health.”
The Senators did their segment of the call together from D.C., and streamed it on Facebook Live.
The call itself was also recorded; here’s a link to the full audio.
And, earlier in the day, NJTV News talked to NJPP’s Director of Health Policy Ray Castro about the proposal and how it would harm New Jersey.
