Click  to expand category
| Legislative Issues |
| Publications/Media |
| Districts & Voter Registration |
|
WEB ARCHIVE
Why You Should Worry About the Corzine Sick Tax
State law requires New Jersey hospitals to provide healthcare to all patients, whether they can pay or not. Now, a new tax proposed by Gov. Corzine would raise $430 million from the state's hospitals – at a rate of $1,424 per bed each month – to help pay for that care. It's like requiring restaurants to feed the hungry and then taxing them to cover the costs.
The Governor plans to redistribute the tax money back to hospitals. Some would receive more money under this tax, but a far greater number would lose money – some as much as $6 million annually. The trickle-down impact on New Jersey hospitals and patients could be tremendous:
- Loss of hospital jobs
- Cuts to hospital services
- Hospital closures
- Rising healthcare costs
- Increase in insurance premiums and co-pays
Your healthcare is too important for this budget maneuvering.
Click on the links below to learn more about the Corzine sick tax. If you need Adobe Acrobat Reader click "Get Adobe Reader" 
-
2007 State Budget in Brief: Proposed 'Sick Tax' Hurts HealthcareGov. Jon Corzine's proposed budget for 2007 would: Impose a new sick tax on hospital revenues, equal to $50 per bed per day. This tax would take $430 million from hospitals, use half of the money to receive $215 million in federal matching funds and give back to hospitals their original $430 million. The $215 million in federal funds would become part of the state's general fund. (More) (.pdf file 37 KB 2 pgs.)
-
An Open Letter to Governor Corzine from NJHA President Gary S. CarterI understand that the state's financial troubles pose a great challenge to your Administration and our state. But your plan to balance the budget on the backs of hospital patients is unfair and unwise. Your new "sick tax," which would tax New Jersey's not-for-profit hospitals $50 per patient bed each day, would siphon $430 million from critical healthcare institutions that already are struggling under the burdens of caring for the uninsured, treating aging Baby Boomers and answering the call for heightened emergency preparedness. (More) (.pdf file 79 KB 1 pg.)
-
(.pdf file 419 KB 1 pg.)
-
Charity Care Shortfall Grows Under Corzine BudgetUnder New Jersey law, hospitals have an obligation to provide care for every person who walks through their doors regardless of their ability to pay. In response to this mandate the state has established a mechanism of charity care funding intended to reimburse hospitals for the healthcare services they provide to the low-income, uninsured population that does not quality for other government-sponsored health insurance programs such as Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare. Hospitals welcome this responsibility as part of their overall mission, however they must be adequately reimbursed for the services they provide. In FY 2006 hospitals were reimbursed $583 million out of $964 million in documented charity care provided to the state's uninsured. This roughly $380 million shortfall has contributed to the fifth year of razor-thin operating margins, with 43 percent of New Jersey's currently operating in the red. (More) (.pdf file 732 KB 2 pgs.)
|
|