Medicaid cuts will devastate N.J. Our GOP congressmen are holding the knife | Opinion

By Eric Benson

As Congress pushes forward on budget reconciliation, New Jersey Congressmen Jeff Van Drew, Chris Smith and Tom Kean are choosing to gut Medicaid and harm working families just to fund tax cuts billionaires

In Washington, GOP leaders are scrambling to finalize a federal budget that would make massive cuts to Medicaid to extend tax breaks for billionaires. Sadly, all three of New Jersey’s House Republicans are embracing these cuts — despite how devastating they would be for the people of our state and the health of our economy.

What’s at stake? As families struggle to afford basics like housing, food, and healthcare, slashing Medicaid would put 1.8 million New Jerseyans directly at risk. Medicaid helps pay for 60% of nursing home residents in state and provides hundreds of millions in support to hospitals. These cuts won’t just hurt individuals — they’ll drive up costs for everyone and put hospitals at risk of closure.

Plus, with a state deficit already over $2.1 billion, shifting more Medicaid costs onto the state will only deepen the hole and buts to benefits.

Here’s what every New Jersey constituent needs to know:

In a closely divided Congress, the votes of Reps. Van Drew, Smith, and Kean could decide the fate of this budget. They have the power — and the responsibility — to reject these cuts and stand up for New Jersey. Instead, they’re choosing to support policies that would result in lost lives, shuttered hospitals, and even higher state and local taxes.

Here’s a closer look:

• Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd Dist.): Says one thing, does another to gut Medicaid

After signing a letter opposing Medicaid cuts, Van Drew reversed course last week endorsing a “per capita cap” that would cap federal Medicaid spending per enrollee. That means federal funds would no longer keep pace with rising costs and New Jersey would be forced to slash Medicaid benefits, raise local taxes, or both. Worse still, Van Drew’s cap would only apply to states like New Jersey that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — while states that didn’t expand Medicaid would be exempt. This is not a harmless budget fix. It’s a direct attack on families, hospitals, and our already strained state budget.

• Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.): Hypocrisy that puts the most vulnerable at risk

Despite previously bucking his party to oppose Medicaid cuts in 2017, this year Smith has abandoned those most in need of support. Medicaid pays for a majority of nursing home care in the state and provides essential funding to hospitals — especially in low-income or rural communities. He has also offered no opposition to one of the most damaging cut proposals: imposing work requirements on recipients (even though most on Medicaid already work). These requirements would threaten coverage for up to 700,000 low-income New Jerseyans – punishing caregivers, people with disabilities or mental illness, and those in recovery the most – and pushing an additional $250 million in costs onto the state.

• Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th Dist.): Defending cuts with debunked talking points

Kean sits on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, where decisions on the Medicaid cuts are being made. Instead of using that role to protect the people he represents, Kean is backing the cuts and repeating the false claim that it’s only about eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse.” But the facts tell a different story. According to the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy, “There is no state that will be able to absorb a 27% cut in federal Medicaid matching payments… by reducing waste, fraud, and abuse. It’s not even close.” And the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has made clear: the committee cannot hit its $880 billion target without cutting Medicaid benefits.

Kean is also backing changes that would change how the federal government matches state funding for Medicaid services that would push up to $5.2 billion more annually in costs onto the state and potentially causing even more adults to lose access to health care they received from Medicaid expansion.

• These Cuts Are Choices, Not Necessities

Congress doesn’t have to cut Medicaid. These cuts aren’t to balance the federal budget — they’re to pay for more tax breaks for billionaires.

So let’s be clear: Any vote to cut Medicaid is a choice — a choice by Reps. Van Drew, Smith, and Kean to side with billionaires over working families and put party loyalty ahead of the needs of their constituents.

New Jersey deserves better.

Calling your elected representative in the U.S. House Of Representatives or U.S. Senate is the most effective way to influence policy. To find your representative and senator to voice your position, go to the House website and the Senate website.

Eric Benson is the New Jersey Campaign director ForTheMany.org, a left-leaning nonprofit grassroots organization working toward eliminating greed from government.

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