Lautenberg, Menendez & Pallone voice opposition to Christie’s Medicaid plan
June 14th, 2011 | by NJPP Staff | Published in NJPP In the News | 5 Comments
Press release from Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.
Washington, D. C. – Three top New Jersey congressional leaders voiced opposition to Governor Chris Christie’s plan to dramatically restructure the state’s Medicaid program because the draconian cuts would result in the loss of medical care for tens of thousands of state residents. Senator Frank Lautenberg, Senator Robert Menendez and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. on Friday urged the governor to reconsider what is still an ill-defined proposal.
What is known about the proposed cuts to NJ FamilyCare is alarming enough, they said. Christie wants to drastically drop the income eligibility limit for participating from around $2000 a month to just over $400 a month, denying an additional 23,000 parents access to NJ FamilyCare next year. And this is in addition to last year’s eligibility changes.
“Governor Christie’s plan to take health services away from New Jersey’s most vulnerable families is neither humane nor a cost effective way to save money,” stated Senator Lautenberg. “We need to make it easier for New Jerseyans to access health care services, not harder. Balancing the budget on the backs of low-income families is unacceptable and I will strongly oppose any proposal that targets the most hard pressed families in our state.”
According to Raymond Castro, a Medicaid expert with New Jersey Policy Perspective, the total number of uninsured parents who would be denied health care in FY 2012 would be over 90,000—and that doesn’t take into account proposed increases in cost sharing that will inevitably discourage participation.
“The state is effectively telling these families to wait until 2014 to get coverage again as part of the new health insurance law,” said Senator Menendez. “Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a waiver for getting cancer. Diabetes treatment can’t wait for three years. These families will still face the same health threats, just without any health coverage. These are the very families I fought to protect in the CHIP reauthorization, and I hope the governor will reconsider before submitting the plan for approval.”
In New Jersey, 916,476 people are enrolled in either Medicaid or FamilyCare, including 668,315 children. By shutting parents out last year, an estimated 18,000 eligible children didn’t participate either.
“The FamilyCare program has proven to be a successful and cost effective means of keeping people healthy and saving lives,” said Congressman Pallone, who authored the federal law that facilitated the creation of FamilyCare, which extends family coverage to those outside the income eligibility of Medicaid. “The state will pay a heavy price in many ways if these cuts are approved. The costs won’t go away. They will just be shifted to emergency rooms and uncompensated care, which we all pay for. Of course, the heaviest cost is a human one.”
Medicaid is a federal-state program with equally-shared costs. The governor’s plan requires the approval of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The state hasn’t sent the waiver application to federal authorities, but the governor still wants to bank the so-called savings in his budget. The congressional leaders urgied him to be mindful of the serious implications of the changes he’s advocating.
Read Ray Castro’s testimony before the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.
June 17th, 2011at 12:29 AM(#)
There has to be some way the people of NJ can help fight to keep this from happening. I just added my husband to my medicare plan because even with him working his health insurance lapsed because his checks weren’t big enough to cover their employers health care. Who can we write to or what can we do to protest this horrible idea? Chris Christie said he was a family man whenn he was running for election, but his actions clearly show that’s he’s barely a human being if he could even consider doing this to thousands of families in NJ. Let’s take his healthcare from him too if he’s willing to sacrifice the health of over half the population and see how he feels about that. Well at least his kids will not be effected, right? Unless by some act of god he catches some life threatening disease and his children are faced with being fatherless or motherless because THEY HAVE NO MEDICAL INSURANCE. Do unto others only as you would do unto yourself, right Governor?
June 20th, 2011at 9:18 PM(#)
Shame on anybody who voted for this loser. I hope people realize that state workers aren’t the problem in this state. New Jersey is going down the sh!tter fast, due 2 violence and gang activities. So what does Gov Fatso do? Lays off police in the most dangerous cities. He lays off teachers. Now my son’s classroom has 40 kids in it, rather than 20, and he doesn’t get the attention he deserves. Did I mention shame on anybody who voted for him?
June 21st, 2011at 12:00 PM(#)
I’m sorry that I ever voted for Christie, he has shown me and thousands of New Jerseyans that he doesen’t care about “the people of this state” unless they are one of his rich friends. To cut Medicaid is to tell the disabled and elderly of this state you don’t matter! His behavior is not that of any politician I have ever known, he is rude and unprofessional. He belieives he can do what he wants which also encludes taking tax money from public schools and giving it to private schools, which of course includes Catholic schools,that his children attend, then yells that it isn’t anyones business where his kids go to school, but takes a NJ State Police helicopter to his son’s baseball game at his Catholic school. He says he won’t appoligise for being rude and disrespectful of the citizens of this state. He should be ashamed of himself!!!
June 22nd, 2011at 11:45 AM(#)
I am on NJ Familycare. They told me I am cutoff as of July 1, 2011. They said there is nothing they can do for me. Single mom of 2, laid off in March and on unemployment. If I get sick, which I currently am, how would you like me to take care of myself? Can’t afford to go to the doctor, unemployment doesnt even pay the minimal basic necessities, like my mortgage. Ugh. So where do we all go now whenever we’re sick? Hope we qualify for charity care and go to ER????
July 6th, 2011at 11:10 PM(#)
I have a mental illness and only make $500 something dollars a month on SSD and SSI. The state pays for my much needed medicine (mood stabilizers) clonazepam wafers. Since medicare part d came in, medicaid doesn’t pay for them. I take them with my mood stabilizer (topamax). Now the state wants me to pay $140 a month for them and I can’t afford it. I’ve been on them for 12 years. I take them three times a day. I will literally go into drug withdrawal and end up in the hospital thanks to this draconian freak of a governor. People could die. I am disabled with a congenital disability. TWELVE YEARS on this medicine! And then cut off just like that! He should be put in prison for what he is doing to the disabled. I will have to go to the emergency room and be hospitalized.