Survey Results: ObamaCare is Unfair to Middle Class New Jerseyans

Survey Results: ObamaCare is Unfair to Middle Class New Jerseyans

Rep. Garrett receives an error message while trying to sign up for ObamaCare

Dear Friend,

Since the ObamaCare exchanges opened on October 1, 2013, my offices in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. have been inundated with calls, letters, and emails from people who have seen their coverage change, premiums increase, and insurance policies cancelled.  To get a better understanding of the specific problems you and your families are now facing, I sent a survey to Fifth District residents asking how ObamaCare is affecting your personal health insurance.

Unfortunately, the survey results were worse than I expected.  Fifty-six percent of you have seen a change in your insurance coverage, and 54 percent of you have seen an increase in your premiums.  Worse yet, one in ten people have already been entirely dropped from their plans.  Regrettably, this number is only going to rise in the coming weeks and months because recent reports estimate that approximately 800,000 New Jerseyans will lose their current plans by this time next year.  These results confirm what I feared all along:  ObamaCare is unfairly burdening middle class Americans.

While these numbers paint a picture about the grim outlook of health insurance under ObamaCare, the individual stories are even more heartbreaking.  Steven, a doctor from Tenafly, called ObamaCare, “a disaster for me as patient, a physician and a small business owner.”  Gloria from Haworth has seen her monthly premium jump $175.  And, William from Park Ridge, who lost his plan because of ObamaCare, is frantically trying to get signed up on HealthCare.gov, but has had no success despite repeated attempts.

This week, while trying to sign up on the website, I too felt the frustration of ObamaCare.  On numerous occasions, just as I thought I had completed the process, I was met by an error message.  Admittedly, at some point, the website will theoretically be fixed, but other, bigger problems will remain.

We can all agree that we need meaningful healthcare reform that decreases patient costs and increases patient accessibility.  Unfortunately, the ObamaCare law is simply doing the opposite.  The American people deserve patient-centered reforms that put health care choices in the hands of the people, not government bureaucrats.  Specifically, I believe you and your families should be allowed to purchase insurance across state lines and through groups and trade associations.  I believe that your health insurance should be tied to you, as an individual, not your employment.  I believe that you should have more choices with regard to Health Savings Accounts.  And, I believe small businesses should be allowed to band together to purchase insurance.

As always, I rely on your feedback to help me make important decisions in our nation’s capital.  Thank you to everyone who participated in this ObamaCare survey; I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Sincerely,

Scott Garrett