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Third and probably last in a series from me at nj.com. Gift link.
Why N.J.’s Republicans in Congress are OK with 16M Americans losing insurance
Tell Congress: Hands off Medicaid!
· Huge cuts to Medicaid are pending: The
budget resolution that passed the House with no Democratic votes directs the
Energy & Commerce Committee to cut federal spending by $880 billion in
ten years – almost all of which would have to come from Medicaid.
· The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion
is on the chopping block: The ACA provides Medicaid to 21 million poor
and near-poor adults (550,000 in our state). House Republican leadership
has made it clear that they intend to eliminate dedicated federal funding
for the ACA Medicaid expansion – a $650 billion spending cut.
· Uninsuring millions: If the federal 90%
contribution for “expansion” enrollees is eliminated, no state will be able to
afford to maintain the expansion. Based
on past estimates by the Congressional Budget Office, 15-20 million people
will lose coverage.
· Republicans are lying about their plans: Republican
leadership, and on-board representatives like Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-7), say that they
will “protect” Medicaid for children, seniors and the disabled and only cut
“waste, fraud, and abuse.” In Republican-speak, “waste” means coverage for
low-income adults.
· Say no to work requirements: Republicans
also aim to make all states impose “work requirements” on most adult Medicaid
enrollees – though the vast majority of non-disabled enrollees either work or
are caregivers or students. Work
requirements have been tried – and the red tape drives eligible Medicaid
recipients off the rolls in droves – as Republicans intend.
Take Action
· Contact NJ’s Republican House Reps: Tell
them Hands off Medicaid! Preserve the ACA Medicaid expansion. Say no to
work requirements.
Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2) -- (202)
225-6572 or ( 609) 625-5008
Chris Smith (NJ-4) – (202)
225-3765 or (732) 780-3035
Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-7) -- (202) 225-5361 or (908) 547-3307
Van
Drew and Smith, both of whom would prefer not to cut Medicaid, are receptive to out-of-district calls; Kean, not so much.
Note: All xpostfactoid subscriptions are now through Substack alone (still free), though I will continue to cross-post on this site. If you're not subscribed, please visit xpostfactoid on Substack and sign up.
See 3/17/25 update at bottom.
 |
| A man may smile, and smile, and uninsure 20 million |
I have an op-ed up this today on nj.com decoding a statement by the famously uncommunicative Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ-7) that signals in Republican-speak that he’s on board with defunding the ACA Medicaid expansion. Below is the TLDR:
* * *
How will Republicans honor Trump’s promise not to “touch” Medicaid while reducing federal funding for the program by hundreds of billions of dollars? Leave it to purported “moderate” Rep Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-7) to channel the emerging MAGA party line. On March 6, Kean told the Record:
I support strong Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs for those who depend on them. Children, seniors, and those who are disabled rely on these crucial programs…I do not support these programs being riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse — that is a direct threat to their actual missions.
While Kean vows to protect coverage for children, seniors, and the disabled, note the group of Medicaid enrollees his vow excludes: low-income adults who are not on disability. That’s the group rendered eligible for Medicaid by the Affordable Care Act. They are the “waste” Republicans propose to uninsure to help fund the resolution’s target $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy....
