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*** TUESDAY ADVISORY *** ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE HEARING TO FOCUS ON CHRISTIE PLAN TO SLASH HEALTH CARE PROGRAM

(TRENTON) – The Assembly Budget Committee will meet Tuesday to discuss Gov. Christie’s plan to slash health care for New Jersey’s poorest and most medically needy residents.
Tuesday’s hearing is set for 11:30 a.m. in Committee Room 11, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton.
Audio of the hearing will be streamed live at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
A recent report by The Star-Ledger described how the Christie administration plans to propose cutting people making as little as $103 a week from Medicaid.
The committee has invited Commissioner of Human Services Jennifer Velez and acting Commissioner of Health and Senior Services Mary O’Dowd to discuss the plan.
“It now makes sense why the administration, despite repeated questioning, refused to detail its plan to slash health care for New Jerseyans struggling daily to make ends meet,” Greenwald (D-Camden) has said. “After all, who would want to publicly stand behind a plan as fiscally irresponsible and unrealistic for working families as this one? The administration has lots of explaining to do and we expect nothing less than detailed and forthright answers. Anything else will be unacceptable and insulting to the taxpayers of this state.”
Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic) voiced her opposition to the governor’s plan on Thursday.
“The outcome of such a cut would be easily predictable – many working class New Jerseyans would simply turn to emergency rooms for more expensive health care, driving up costs on hospitals that cannot afford it,” Oliver has said. “The administration’s continued theme of only looking out for those most fortunate is long past being tiresome. It needs to dump this plan and come up with a more humane approach. I cannot envision this concept being approved by a Democratic Legislature dedicated to fighting for working class New Jerseyans.”