NJPP: Affordable Care Act Ruling Could Be Catastrophic for New Jersey

On Wednesday, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate, ruling the requirement for insurance was unconstitutional. The appeals court also sent the case back to a federal district judge in Texas to rule on whether the rest of the ACA can exist without the mandate. In response to this decision, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) releases the following statement.

Raymond Castro, Director of Health Policy, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP):

“The decision by a federal appeals court in Texas vs. the United States threatens the future of the Affordable Care Act and the health care of millions of New Jerseyans. The full repeal of the Affordable Care Act would be catastrophic for New Jersey and result in the loss of billions of federal dollars and thousands of jobs in the health care industry and adjacent sectors. This immediate shock to the health care system would ripple throughout the broader state economy, and create a state budget crisis.

“The repeal of the Affordable Care Act would not only threaten the health coverage for approximately 800,000 New Jerseyans in the Medicaid expansion and individual marketplace, but also the benefits that millions of residents now receive in employer-based insurance, such as protections for preexisting conditions, free preventive services, and coverage for dependents up to age 26. Even people with disabilities and seniors on Medicare could potentially be affected because the ACA closes the “donut hole” in prescription drugs.”

The following are some of the groups that could be directly harmed if the entire ACA is found unconstitutional:

• Lost Medicaid coverage: 518,000 New Jerseyans; annual federal funding loss; $3.2 billion

• Lost coverage in the individual marketplace: 313,000 New Jerseyans; annual federal funding loss: $1.3 billion

• Lost donut hole benefits in Medicare: 289,000 senior and people with disabilities; annual federal funding: $262 million

• Lost federal protections for preexisting conditions: 2 million New Jerseyans mostly in employer-based coverage

• Lost annual savings in NJ state budget in charity care and other costs due to possible repeal of Medicaid expansion: $365 million

New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) is a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and advocacy.

# # #