The National Taxpayers' Union recently sent a letter to all New Jersey Legislators and Governor Chris Christie, urging them to oppose medicaid expansion in New Jersey. The letter can be found below:
Dear Legislator:
On behalf of National Taxpayers
Union's 362,000 members nationwide and more than 10,000 members in New Jersey,
I urge you to oppose Governor Christie's call for expansion of Medicaid under
the federal health care law, which will place hundreds of thousands of additional
New Jerseyans into a broken program that will cripple state and federal
budgets.
As a result of the Supreme Court's June 2012 "Obamacare" decision, states have the option to increase their participation in this failing program, and right now, taxpayers are depending on you to say "no." Medicaid is already plagued with low reimbursement rates and payment delays, as well as rampant waste and fraud. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the improper payment rate in 2011 was 8.1 percent, amounting to $21.9 billion - the second-highest of any federal program reporting such data. By adding hundreds of thousands of people to the New Jersey Medicaid rolls, these figures are certain to rise.
Even though President Obama has
promised that the federal government will pick up the entire tab for the first
three years and 90 percent of the cost in the long term, Medicaid expansion
will still saddle New Jersey with a $1.5 billion budget burden through 2022,
according to a recent report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and
the Uninsured. This assumes the federal government will not renege on its 90
percent funding commitment. As you may know, President Obama has already
proposed a reduction in federal match rates starting in 2017. If major tax
hikes are to be avoided at the state level in the near future, Medicaid should
be reformed to achieve cost savings, not enlarged.
The law will also have
disastrous effects at the federal level. The Kaiser report determined that
full-scale Medicaid expansion will cost the federal government $800 billion
between now and 2022. Additionally, Kaiser found that if expanded in New
Jersey, the federal government would spend an extra $15 billion in the state on
Medicaid. However, that money is not "free": current and future New
Jersey taxpayers would still have to bear part of this burden (and that of
other state expansions) on their federal tax returns. Instead of increasing the
size and reach of the federal government, state officials should seize this opportunity
to rein in Washington's dangerous spending habit.
The expansion of Medicaid under
the health care law would be detrimental to both New Jerseyans and taxpayers
across the country. Such a move would make New Jersey a co-owner of the federal
government's dramatically more intrusive role in the health care system and
demonstrate true fiscal irresponsibility. Taxpayers are counting on your
leadership on this issue.
Sincerely,
Lee Schalk
NTU, State Government
Affairs Manager
