On May 12, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled a proposal to reduce Medicaid funding by over $700 billion. The bill is set for debate starting May 13 and could potentially result in the loss of health insurance for 8.6 million individuals nationwide. Among those affected would be nearly 200,000 residents of New Jersey if the cuts are applied uniformly across states.
New Jersey’s congressional delegation includes three committee members: Representatives Frank Pallone (D), Robert Menendez, Jr. (D), and Thomas Kean, Jr. (R). In response to the proposed cuts, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) released a statement expressing concern about the impact on state residents.
Brittany Holom-Trundy, Senior Policy Analyst at NJPP, stated: “The House plan to cut Medicaid would strip hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans of their health insurance and roll back more than a decade of progress in making health care more affordable.”
Holom-Trundy further emphasized that whether through block grants or work requirements, “the outcome is the same: 8.6 million Americans would lose their insurance — including nearly 200,000 New Jerseyans.” She described these reductions as “a direct attack on the health and well-being of families working hard to make ends meet.”
She also warned against reversing New Jersey’s bipartisan Medicaid expansion merely “to pay for more tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations.”
For additional insights into how these proposed Medicaid cuts could affect New Jersey specifically, NJPP refers readers to its March publication discussing the implications of work requirements.
