Letter to the editor: Federal health care reform helping NJ families

From Assemblyman Dan Benson
To the editor:
Access to quality health care for working class New Jerseyans is a top priority for me and my Democratic colleagues in the Legislature, which is why recent progress on this issue is good news for hard-working families.
Recently, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill implementing health exchanges for our state as required by the federal Affordable Care Act. This is likely to be the opening salvo in a lengthy discussion in New Jersey about how our state implements federal health care reform to cover nearly 1 million uninsured residents.
However, I think it’s important to take a look back over the last two years since the federal law was adopted and how President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act is already helping New Jersey families. While there has been much discussion over the individual mandate, the state health exchanges and the upcoming Supreme Court challenge, many of the very popular provisions of the new health care reform law took effect immediately and are often overlooked in the debate.
Extending insurance for millions of young Americans, removing lifetime limits on health benefits, coverage of pre-existing conditions, closing of the prescription “doughnut hole” for seniors, free preventative care and reducing Medicare fraud are just some of the biggest successes of the new health care law.
In New Jersey alone, more than 65,000 residents under the age of 26 received coverage because of the new health care law. More than 1.5 million New Jersey residents with private insurance now can receive preventative services without cost sharing. Our state has also received $84 million in grants in areas such as preventative health, support for community health centers, medical and health care training and workforce development, and fraud detection and prevention.
Senior citizens faced with rising prescription costs and in need of better preventative care have also received significant help these past two years. Thanks to the new health care law, in 2010 more than 130,000 residents with Medicare received a $250 rebate to cover prescription costs. In 2011, over 125,000 New Jersey seniors with Medicare saw an average savings of $756, for a total savings of over $95 million. These savings will continue to grow each year until 2020 when the Medicare prescription “doughnut hole” is closed. Plus, in 2011 alone more than 980,000 seniors in New Jersey received free preventive services — such as mammograms and colonoscopies — or a free annual wellness visit with their doctor. Finally, according to Business Week magazine, seniors with Medicare Advantage saw their premiums decrease by 7% over the last year while enrollment is up nationwide 10%.
Simply put, the new healthcare law provides working families and seniors the protections and security they need during these uncertain economic times.
Insurance companies can no longer bend the rules and increase their profits by dropping coverage when you get sick or passing on high medical costs due to an annual or lifetime limit. Soon insurance companies will also no longer be able to deny coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition. Because of many of the new health care law’s protections, New Jersey residents can have peace of mind knowing that if they lose their job or simply seek to change a job they don’t have to also lose health coverage.
By investing in our state and nation’s health, we can reduce rising health care costs and ensure the next medical emergency your family faces doesn’t have to be a financial emergency as well.
Health reform is already making a difference for the people of New Jersey, so regardless of what the upcoming Supreme Court challenge may bring, I hope we can all agree that we must fight to preserve these successes achieved under the new health care law and work together to find the most appropriate way for New Jersey to reduce the numbers of uninsured in our state.
Daniel R. Benson, Assemblyman
14th District 