Politics & Government

These N.J. Towns, Workers Could Be Impacted Most By Trump Obamacare Repeal, Study Claims

Trump's proposal would cause more than a half million low-income residents to lose coverage and cost the state about $3 billion: study.

An independent study has been released showing what N.J. towns and types of workers could be impacted the most by President-elect Donald Trump's plan to repeal of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

Trump’s proposal to repeal the Medicaid expansion as part of rolling back most - or all - of the Affordable Care Act "would harm New Jersey far more than most other states," causing more than a half million low-income residents to lose health coverage and costing the state about $3 billion a year in federal funds, according to the study.

The study was released by New Jersey Policy Perspective, a "think-tank" that advises bipartisan lawmakers and promotes policy change through" evidence-based, independent research, analysis and advocacy," according to the group.

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"This would reverse the progress New Jersey has made in reducing the number of residents without insurance while deepening the state’s severe financial and budget crisis," according to the study. "New Jerseyans across the state, as well as hospitals and other health care providers, would be harmed."

The study suggests that the state’s Congressional delegation "must strongly oppose any repeal of the Affordable Care Act, including the Medicaid expansion."

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"Gov. Christie should use his influence to ensure that the expansion stays in place; the legislature should hold hearings and urge Congress to keep the expansion intact; and the state should stay the course and help more uncovered people enroll," according to the analysis.

Efforts to obtain comment from Gov. Chris Christie's administration were not immediately successful.

The analysis says rolling back Medicaid expansion would cause about 528,000 adult New Jerseyans – or 10 percent of all non-elderly adults in the state – to lose their health coverage. This is because so many New Jerseyans have benefited from the Medicaid expansion – far more than originally anticipated. In fact, New Jersey has the eighth highest number of new participants.

The study says nearly two-thirds of the adults who are at risk of losing coverage under the repeal of the Medicaid expansion are working or living in households where someone works. These workers are paid very low wages and cannot afford even minimal medical care without assistance.

Here are the areas of employment that could be hurt the worst:

New Jerseyans from all over the state would lose coverage, though the impact would be most severe in urban counties and major cities, according to the analysis.

Some of New Jersey’s counties are among the wealthiest in the nation, yet many of their residents would lose Medicaid if Trump’s proposal is adopted, according to the study. The number of adults losing coverage ranges from 3,100 in Hunterdon County to 67,000 in Essex County.

A total of 163,000 adults – or about a third of the statewide total – are at risk of losing coverage in 10 cities alone, according to the study. Newark has the most at-risk adults in total (36,751), while Camden has the greatest share of at-risk adults.

You can read the whole study by clicking here.

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