Each New Jersey County Has a Lot to Lose from ACA Repeal

Advocates, Local Elected Officials and Hospital Executives Urge Preserving Coverage Gains Under the Affordable Care Act as New Data Shows County-by-County Impact of Repeal

Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would cause tremendous damage in every part of New Jersey, causing thousands of residents – mostly low-paid workers and seniors – in every single county to lose crucial coverage and prescription benefits, and leading to the loss of billions in federal funds that would be spread across all of the state’s counties, advocates, policy experts, local elected officials and hospital executives said on a press conference call today.

With Congress on recess and the bulk of New Jersey’s Republican delegation still siding with their GOP colleagues in advancing dangerous repeal proposals, new data released today by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) helps bring the devastation of these proposals down to the local level.

“Repeal threatens all communities across our state. The loss of federal funds, jobs, and coverage losses will harm already struggling families and strain the resources of state, county and local governments,” said Maura Collinsgru, Health Care Program Director at New Jersey Citizen Action and the convener of the New Jersey For Health Care coalition. “It is why we and our coalition partners are asking county and city officials to speak out and pass a resolution urging Congress to preserve the gains we’ve made and reject any effort to reduce coverage and guaranteed protections now available under the ACA.”

To date, four counties – Hudson, Mercer, Essex and Union ­­– have passed such a resolution, as has the city of Jersey City. Other counties are currently being approached and more may be considering a resolution at their next meeting.

“Health care should be a priority in the United States for all people. Without the ACA, we will be going backwards as a nation – and New Jersey will be seriously hurt without the ACA,” said Essex County Freeholder Patricia Sebold. “It was important for the Essex County Board of Freeholders to show its support with a resolution.”

Essex County is the state’s hardest hit county by repeal, with 109,000 residents at risk of losing benefits and coverage, and $475 million in federal funds, 9,700 jobs and 87 lives at stake, according to NJPP’s analysis. But all counties in the state would be severely harmed.

“In county after county, the numbers are disturbing and clear,” said NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Raymond Castro. “Repealing the ACA without an adequate replacement would devastate New Jersey.”

Hospitals and other health providers across the state agree, and are joining consumer advocates and others to protect the ACA. New Jersey’s health care providers are absorbing $1.8 billion in cuts over an eight-year period to help pay for the ACA, according to the New Jersey Hospital Association. Those cuts were offset because providers were caring for many more people with health insurance. If the coverage under the ACA erodes, providers would be grappling with the loss of insurance payments – both from New Jerseyans on the exchange but crucially from residents who are enrolled under the expanded Medicaid – on top of the billions of dollars in cuts.

“This is not our parents’ Medicaid, in that, often the stereotype is that Medicaid is for the chronically unemployed,” said Peter A. Kaprielyan, Vice President, Government and External Relations at South Jersey’s Inspira Health Network. “In fact, the majority of Medicaid funding goes to seniors and people with disabilities.”

Contact: Jon Whiten, NJPP: 609-393-1145 ext. 15 (office) | 917-655-3313 (cell) | whiten@njpp.org