NJCA urges Kean, Van Drew, GOP to work with Dems to reverse Trump healthcare cuts and address healthcare crisis
Newark--September 12, 2025--New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) Director of Policy and Advocacy Maura Collinsgru issued the following statement today on New Jersey Representatives Jeff Van Drew and Tom Kean, Jr. co-sponsoring H.R. 5145, which extends federal subsidies for health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Without action, premiums for the ACA plans will see an average increase of 15.9 percent. Earlier this year, both GOP Representatives voted “Yes” on the Trump administration’s “big, beautiful bill”, which cut billions in federal funding, with devastating consequences for Medicaid, Medicare, the ACA, SNAP, and other critical programs.
“Representatives Van Drew and Kean have only themselves and their GOP colleagues to blame for the fact that premiums for half a million New Jerseyans on ACA marketplace plans will skyrocket. For months, they ignored countless emails, phone calls, protests, and visits from advocates, policy experts, and their own constituents urging them to reject Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” They knowingly voted to sacrifice the needs of their constituents to give billionaires tax breaks while funding an unprecedented assault on immigrants and our health care programs and system.
“This is simply political opportunism for Van Drew and Kean, who now face the consequences for voting to deprive millions of Americans of health insurance, while driving up health care costs for millions more. Legislation to extend federal subsidies for ACA plans will only fix part of the catastrophe they helped create. If they are sincere in wanting to address the problem, we would urge them to join their colleagues from across the aisle to support the “Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act of 2025” (H.R. 4849) to reverse the cuts and push for a permanent solution to the health care crises millions of Americans and New Jerseyans face.”
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New Jersey Citizen Action is a statewide advocacy and empowerment organization that fights for social, racial and economic justice for all.
