Murphy, Democrats Give Millennials Another Reason To Leave New Jersey
By Alex Cucciniello
As if Millennials and other young people needed more reasons to flee New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy is about to give them another one. He is ready to sign legislation reinstating the Obamacare health insurance penalty from which President Trump and the Republican Congress gratefully freed us.
The legislation is backed by the Democratic majority in the legislature, New Jerseyans will once again be required to have health insurance or pay a hefty penalty. This new onerous dip into our pockets by government comes after President Trump gave us a reprieve from the Obama mandate to buy overpriced insurance or be fined for failing to do so. The penalty for not having insurance is either 2.5 percent of household income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child. As a 21 year old I have better things to do with $695 than giving it to our government so it can be wasted.
Reinstating the healthcare tax is especially harmful to young people, many of whom are barely getting by and most of whom hope to stop living home, but can’t afford to. Millennial’s saddled with college loan repayments, car insurance costs and struggling to get a decent job – and saving to someday buy a home – don’t need to be used as pawns to prop up a terrible health care system. We do not want to be forced to pay for something we don’t want and most likely will never use. The government is using young, healthy people to prop up a health care system that makes people more reliant on government for health care.
To make matters worse, New Jersey will not relent on forcing us to buy a “benefits rich program” that provides coverage for things we don’t need.
It is obvious that to Gov. Murphy and his party, young people are just cash cows that must be milked to prop up the discredited Obamacare version of socialized medicine, that frankly is not working well here or in other countries. According to a poll released in January by the Eagleton Center for the Public Interest – people who bought their medical coverage through the Obamacare health exchange were the most likely to say cost drove their decision — not because they liked the network of doctors – which most don’t.
Nevertheless Gov. Murphy is plowing ahead with a plan to prop up a health care system that has come to symbolize government arrogance. In 2016, there were five insurers offering plans in the New Jersey insurance exchange. For 2017, that fell to two. Even the insurance companies don’ t like the government system. This year the nearly unheard of Oscar Health Insurance rejoined the exchange for 2018. I challenge you to find a doctor in your neighborhood or a hospital that will accept Oscar.
Obviously before supporting reinstatement of the health care tax, neither Murphy nor the legislature bothered to read the recently released poll by the state’s CPA society that found that Millennial’s are clearly unhappy with New Jersey. The respondents cited the lack of good paying jobs and the cost of housing as two reasons they dislike the state. I can provide a dozen more reason not to like New Jersey and now Gov. Murphy has given us another one. Is it truly any wonder as to why Millennials are leaving the state in droves?
Alex Cucciniello is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Organization for Economic Growth PAC and can be followed online at http://njoeg.com/ www.facebook.com/StrengthThroughIndustry..
fuc this piece of shit let him pay for it new jersey govt is a bunch of douche bags !!!!
You should see the current administration in Washington DC!!! Man, you’re not kidding.
i know those democrats are jackass;s
Hello Mr. Cucciniello,
Please review the 2017 WalletHub report on Federally Subsidized States.
Did you know that New Jersey ranks 47/50 in Federal Subsidies to the State?. Or that New Jersey ranks in the lowest five States for Federal Grants, Contracts and other financial Assistance? We are a Blue State that sends our tax dollars to the very Federally dependent Red States. The TOP five Red States getting Blue States cash are New Mexico, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia.
For every federal tax dollar we NJers pay, the States only get back 61 cent. We are robbed of about $16 Billion annually. Why is that?
In regard to the millennials in a fray over the healthcare issue, it was former Gov. Christie who allowed Oscar Health Care into New Jersey. OHC is run by Jared Kushner brother. A Trump connection.
Healthcare costs and Insurance are troubling issues. Respectively, however I think getting our cash back from the Feds is the thing we should work on first.
Thank you.
I read the article by Alex Cucciniello several times. I read the very long opinion by Dr. Chistine B Aria. I don’t see what the opinion of Dr. Christine B Aria has to do with the subject of the article by Alex Cucciniello. But, maybe the opinion of Dr Aria is reflective of the many older New Jersey voters who ignore the opinions of the Millennials and other young people. The Governor and democrats in New Jersey want money to fund their fully loaded medical health care system. They need lots of money from a population that is small in numbers and voting power – Millennials and other young people. Also, this population will not be drawing from the pool of money as they are generally healthy. That was the premise of Obama-care – take money by government force from the healthy to pay for not just the sick, but the complete medical agenda of the left.
As a over 50 resident of New Jersey I am in full agreement with Alex Cucciniello. In fact, many Millennials and other young people pick up and leave for other areas where they can keep more of their money – like Texas. So if you are ambitious and enterprising and independent, and not tied to Wall Street or the government, leave New Jersey!
Also, others like myself are waiting for the time when we can afford to leave New Jersey. Some areas probably like where Dr Aria lives are doing quite well in the recover. I live in Warren County where the recovery has yet to happen and where mortgages are sill above property values.
Amen!
I get the impression you’re going to be one of those seniors who keep telling the politicians to keep government out of our Medicare. sigh…
Sounds like Alex favors single payer…good for him!
While the costs, access, delivery, and waste in our health care system are all legitimate issues that must be addressed, the author’s argument that he does not want and “most likely will never use” health insurance is ignorant and dangerous. Should he get injured or sick, the devastating costs of seeking medical care without insurance will dwarf, many times over, the cost of his premiums. If he thinks the cost of health insurance is preventing him from paying off his student loans or buying a home, wait until he is trying to attain those goals saddled with medical bills because he did not have health insurance. It’s also worthwhile to note that when the uninsured seek medical attention, the medical bills they can’t pay are absorbed by those of us who live up to the adult responsibility of carrying health insurance, or become the burden of the tax payer. The author doesn’t want to pay for his health insurance, he wants the tax payers to do so for him. A “child” can stay on his or her parents’ health insurance until they are 26. By 26, it is time to grow up and take responsibility for yourself. The ignorance and irresponsibility expressed in this article is galling.
It’s VERY ignorant on his part. Every human being, no exceptions, needs medical care at some point in their lives. It’s pretty amazing to me how a young person like this could be so extremely short sighted. He should be advocating for a system that covers everyone automatically. Luckily, I don’t believe he’s typical in his viewpoints among his peer generation.
And let’s hope that once we get a Democrat president again, they push to reinstate the mandate nation wide! Better yet, a single payer system.