ATTORNEY GENERAL PLATKIN CO-LEADS MULTISTATE EFFORT TO PROTECT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, along with the Attorneys General of California and Massachusetts, co-led a multistate letter regarding a raft of proposed changes that would undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA), making it more difficult and expensive for individuals to enroll in health coverage on federal and state exchanges.

“The Trump Administration, in one of its first proposed regulations, is trying to make it harder to access health insurance for New Jerseyans and across the country,” said Attorney General Platkin. “That decision harms vulnerable populations and those who count on the Affordable Care Act, and it hurts everyone else, too, because it drives up costs for all the States and our residents. I am proud to lead the fight against this idea. I will continue to fight against any unlawful changes that deprive New Jerseyans of access to quality, affordable health care.”

“Taking health insurance away from people is not only cruel, it’s also bad policy. If we want to lower health care costs, we need more people to have coverage, not less,” said New Jersey Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston, MD, MSc, DFASAM. “Everyone gets sick. But without insurance, people don’t get routine preventive care, and they wait to seek treatment until they’re much sicker. That makes their treatment more expensive—and when people can’t afford the hospital bill, we all end up paying for it.”

“New Jersey established GetCoveredNJ with the promise of providing residents with improved access to quality, affordable health coverage. Over the last five years, we delivered on that promise, implementing numerous consumer-focused policies, leading to record enrollment each year. Now, due to the proposed federal rule, the flexibilities that allowed New Jersey to tailor GetCoveredNJ to best serve our residents is at risk,” said Justin Zimmerman, Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, which operates Get Covered New Jersey, and which submitted its own comment letter on the rule. “This proposal would severely impact our ability to maintain the current access to quality, affordable health coverage for over half a million residents and derail the tremendous progress we have made in connecting New Jerseyans with the health coverage and care they deserve.”