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Medicaid cuts could bring bleak conditions

Experts in NJ predict human, financial woes

By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Emergency Rooms flooding with patient seeking basic care because they can no longer see a doctor. Drug users back on the street relapsing because they can no longer go to counseling. disabled adults forced to be institutionalized because care can no longer be provided at home.
..... Those were some of the bleakest outcomes of proposed cuts to Medicaid that dozens of New Jersey health care executives, social workers and physicians predicted at a legislative committee meeting in Trenton on Tuesday. [05/06/2025]
..... Congressional Republicans are looking to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the government insurance program for low-income Americans, a step that would allow federal tax cuts to stay in effect.
..... Some have argued that Medicaid has become bloated, has made too many Americans dependent on it and has been taken advantage of by those who can instead get insurance by working a full-time job.
..... But those who testified at the state Assembly Health Committee's three-hour session Tuesday [05/06/2025] described Medicaid as a thin line separating a vibrant, healthy society from one that plunges into disarray.
..... "Without Medicaid, I simply have no life," said Kevin Nunez, a New Jersey disability advocate who has cerebral palsy. "Without medicaid, I couldn't get out of bed."
..... Because so much money is spent on Medicaid, it is one of the only government programs with a large enough budget to allow U.S. House Republicans to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion over the next decade.
..... Although the cuts have been discussed for months and a House resolution that passed would target $880 billion over 10 years, there is still little information on what eligibility requirements would be changed, how much reimbursements would be cut and what programs would be targeted.
..... "We don't know what they've going to look like, Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, a Democrat from Mount Laurel who chaired the hearing, said of the cuts. "We just have an estimate of what it may be."

1.8 million in state rely on it

..... Despite its being a wealthy state with one of the nation's highest per capita incomes, New Jersey's Medicaid program - called NJ FamilyCare - is used by 1.8 million residents.
..... It is one of state government's most expensive program, with a $24 billion budget this fiscal year. [2025] the federal government provides $14 billion, and $10 billion comes from the $56.6 billion state budget.
..... Health care executives foresee a major reduction from a major payer. Hospitals, which have become a large economic driver and lobbying force in New Jersey, are especially worried that the number of patients seeking charity care in their emergency departments will skyrocket while their bottom line will plummet.
..... Care for all patients, whether they are Medicaid-eligible or not, will likely plummet, said Dr. Diana Montoya-Williams, a paleontologist for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which has locations throughout South Jersey.
..... "Decreasing funding for Medicaid is not going to decrease the number of kids going to ERs for traumatic injuries or severe infections," she told the panel Tuesday. [05/06/2025] "It won't stop women from going into labor early and needing their babies to come to my NICU for care."

Demand expected to surge

..... The cuts come at a time when demand for Medicaid is expected to skyrocket as the population gets older in New Jersey and the nation. Medicaid pays for 57% of New Jersey's nursing home residents. It is estimated that the state will have a million residents over the age of 60 by the end of the decade - an increase of a million form 2020.
..... Even some New Jersey business groups, which usually come out on the side of tax cuts and a reduced role of government, have come out against Medicaid cuts, saying how vital health care is to the state's economy. The cuts would likely stop hiring efforts for health care, which is already experiencing a staffing crisis, said Althea Ford of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.
..... "This disconnect will result in the closure of facilities and reduce the health care provider footprint in communities," she told the committee.
..... Advocates for disabled residents said Medicaid goes beyond doctor visits and pharmacy prescriptions. It helps fund programs that work to integrate disabled people into society and stave off isolation.
..... "When we cut Medicaid, we are cutting off independence, dignity and the right of every person regardless of ability to live a full life in their community," said Cyndy Walsh Rintzler, a Roselle nonprofit that helps disable adults find and maintain jobs.

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