Team Allen: “An Affordable New Jersey Means Affordable Healthcare”

Team Allen: “An Affordable New Jersey Means Affordable Healthcare”

Candidates pledge to lower costs and expand access to coverage 

Burlington—  7th District Senator Diane Allen, and Assembly candidates Brian Propp and Nancy Griffin today unveiled their plan to make New Jersey more affordable by reforming New Jersey’s healthcare system.  Team Allen’s plan would lower costs and expand coverage by:

            Lower premiums by rolling back the healthcare taxes imposed on providers and insurers in the last six years

            Focus on providing preventive care so that patients can avoid costly emergency room or hospital visits

            Maximizing New Jersey’s access to federal dollars by doing more to sign up un-enrolled men, women, and children in Family Care, Medicare, and SCHIP

            Working to lower premiums by expanding the insurance pool to cover more young adults

            Providing incentives for the use of new medical records technologies to avoid costly mistakes and lower costs of treatment

“Any plan for an affordable New Jersey must include a plan to lower the healthcare cost burden on our families,” said Senator Allen.  “Our plan for an affordable New Jersey will lower the cost of healthcare by rolling back tax increases that increase premiums and cost of care, expanding access to preventive and routine care, and attracting more federal dollars.  Ours is a common-sense plan that could be enacted today to start saving New Jerseyans money and extending care to more uninsured men, women, and children.”

“It is unacceptable that, as we face a healthcare affordability crisis, Trenton politicians hiked taxes on medical care several times in the last six years,” said Brian Propp.  “Those taxes are just passed onto the patient, who can’t afford it.  We leave too many federal dollars on the table by not doing enough to enroll New Jerseyans in Medicare, Family Care, and SCHIP.  We need to be looking for ways to reduce costs and expand access to care in New Jersey, and our plan gets it done.”

“We need to use healthcare dollars more efficiently,” said Nancy Griffin.  “Right now, New Jersey doesn’t do enough to encourage the use of inexpensive preventive care, while it relies on costly emergency room and hospital visits.  The state hasn’t acted to encourage the use of medical records technology that would save millions in avoided liability lawsuits and lower costs for doctor visits.  This is a backwards approach to healthcare, and Diane, Brian, and I will work to turn our healthcare system around.”

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