NEWARK: New Jersey Citizen Action Director of Policy and Advocacy Maura Collinsgru issued the following statement today on the GOP-backed reconciliation bill passed by the US Senate:
“Republicans are trying to make up for their failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act by undoing the progress that has enabled more than 20 million people in this country to gain access to healthcare. Their plan will take away healthcare, food assistance and other essential services from the poor, working families, and people they deem unworthy of federal assistance.
The GOP has turned a deaf ear to the near-universal chorus of opposition to this legislation from policy analysts, patient advocates, the disabled, employers, hospitals, health clinics, labor, nursing homes, seniors, and state leaders. This opposition sounded the alarm about the unprecedented number of people who will lose coverage under the bill, as well as the catastrophic damage to our nation’s healthcare system as hospitals and other healthcare facilities are forced to reduce services or shut down.
This devastating assault on our nation’s healthcare system is projected to throw 16 million people off Medicaid and ACA coverage, but the consequences go far beyond that grim statistic. The surge in uninsured consumers will drive up medical debt and increase premiums for everyone. Families will be forced to choose between spending on healthcare or other essentials, while businesses will be forced to either absorb premium hikes or shift costs to their employees.
The GOP Senators who voted for legislation aren’t trying to make healthcare more efficient or eliminate waste and corruption. They are using these cruel and unnecessary cuts to fund mass deportation efforts and oversee a massive transfer of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich. New Jersey, and our nation, deserve far better.
We urge all our Representatives to vote against the bill as it returns to the House. We call particularly on GOP Representatives Tom Kean Jr., Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, who helped set this disastrous legislation into motion, to put the country and New Jersey first, and reverse their earlier vote. New Jersey voters will remember if our GOP Representatives make the wrong choice again.”