BURLINGTON CITY, N.J. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today met with several New Jersey constituents who reached out to his office to voice their concerns over losing their healthcare coverage under the Republican plan to repeal and erase the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Earlier this week, a report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealed the ACA repeal will drive up the cost, drive down the quality, and cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance.
“The Republican plan to repeal and erase the Affordable Care Act is cruel, misguided and inflicts pain across the board,” said Sen. Menendez. “When you take $880 billion out of state health care systems, everyone feels the pain. When you add 24 million people to the ranks of the uninsured, everyone feels the pain. When you send more people to emergency rooms, saddle consumers with higher out-of-pocket costs, and end protections against insurance company abuses for patients – everyone feels the pain.”
“And for what? To cut taxes by $600 billion for health insurance executives and the Donald Trumps in our society? I will fight with everything I have to defeat it,” he added.
The senator visited the Southern Jersey Family Medical Center (SJFMC), a federally qualified health center in Burlington City, where he met with several constituents who have written him with their fears over the Republican plan:
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Sen. Menendez also tweeted various videos from his meetings, which can be viewed here.
SJFMC President and CEO Linda Flake outlined to the senator the devastating impact the Republican replacement plan would have on families they are now able to serve because of the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “The number of uninsured patients receiving care at SJFMC was reduced by 50% under the ACA. With the replacement plan, that expansion will end, and the 10,000 uninsured SJFMC patients who received coverage through the Affordable Care Act will lose their coverage and be left out in the cold! If passed, this plan will also have a disastrous effect upon our bottom line and will unfortunately result in service reduction. The new bill goes against what we stand for, our commitment to provide high-quality care to the underserved and uninsured populations in our region.”
“The Affordable Care Act has brought health insurance to 800,000 New Jersey residents,” said Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, which represents more than 100 hospitals throughout the state. “The cost of losing that coverage would be very high: for the uninsured who would become sicker because they don't have access to primary and preventive care; for the hospitals that stand to see their charity care burden skyrocket to more than $1 billion once again; for other patients, who face longer waits in the ER; and for all healthcare consumers, who would see those high costs of ER care shifted to their premiums.”
“The Mental Health Association in New Jersey wants to remind our citizens and legislators that mental health is not a partisan issue nor should we make it one,” said Barbara Johnston, MHANJ’s director of advocacy and policy. “It is about getting treatment and services to persons in need."
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