NJ Governor Phil Murphy Warns: Medicaid ‘Cuts Will Drill A Hole Right Through’ American Families

During a roundtable discussion on Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) spoke about the consequences of potential Medicaid cuts.

Transcript

00:00Sarah with you if that's okay. Let's just all of us understand the scope of what we're talking

00:08about here today. Nearly two million of our neighbors rely on federal health care programs,

00:14Medicaid being the guerrilla program, but far and away not the only one. So these are seniors,

00:22they're children, they're individuals with disabilities, they're entire families whose

00:28access to health care is now literally in jeopardy. These are patients who are fighting

00:35cancer, who they may now be required to work just to keep their coverage as opposed to being

00:42focused on their recovery. They're children who could lose access to life-saving medications and

00:49treatments. Seniors who may find themselves suddenly deprived of the home and community-based services

00:57they and their caregivers rely on. And this is the part of the story that I think is under-told,

01:04if I may say. These cuts will not only, this is, we too often are in a them versus us conversation.

01:14So it's pretty darn clear, and you're going to hear the stories that these cuts will drill a hole right

01:19through these families and these individuals. But it's not just about them, if you will. This will

01:26destabilize our states, frankly our country's entire health care system. So it will not stop just at

01:34hurting the families who are, say, enrolled in Medicaid. It will hurt the much broader universe of

01:43folks who rely on New Jersey's community health centers, hospitals, nursing homes, on and on and

01:51on. They will likely cause layoffs, forced closures of health care facilities that will hurt our health

02:00care workforce for sure. And by the way, they've always been one of the great sources of pride in

02:05our state and in our country at the front line. We never saw it more tangibly than during a COVID

02:12overwhelming experience. And sadly, the folks who voted for this bill, they knew exactly the

02:20consequences. This is not going to be like a year or two from now, somebody could say, wait a minute,

02:25I didn't realize that was going to happen. Everything I've just said is clear as a bell that it will all

02:33happen. So nobody who voted yes, including the three folks in our House delegation, can ever say,

02:39you know what, I just didn't realize this was where it was headed, because they know exactly where this

02:45is headed, which makes this vote so cruel, so sad, so disappointing. Enough of the soapbox.

02:55Deep thanks again, most importantly, to the folks who have come out today and family members and

03:01caregivers who are showing so much courage every day, but including this day. Let me ask Sarah to my

03:09right, again, the Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, very briefly, what have I missed

03:15in terms of the impacts, particularly on the potential or likely at this point, federal Medicaid cuts?

03:22Thank you, Sarah.

03:23Thank you, Governor.