Reaction to NJ State of the State Address

NEEDS OF THE UNINSURED MUST BE ADDRESSED

Reaction from Blair Horner, Vice President for Advocacy, American Cancer Society of NY & NJ, to Governor Christie's 2012 State of the State

"New Jersey has experienced a growing number of uninsured.  According to the US Census, more than 1.3 million New Jersey residents don’t have health insurance, that is 15% of the population in the state.  And many of those individuals are dealing with serious illnesses, like cancer.

Research suggests that approximately 10 percent of cancer patients are uninsured at the time of diagnosis.  More troubling, about one-third of cancer survivors report a loss of health insurance at some point in time since their diagnosis.

New Jersey should follow the lead of the state of Massachusetts and set up a health insurance exchange, a place where the uninsured and small businesses can obtain coverage.  In doing so, the state would trigger federal aid which would pay for the start up costs.

The State of the State for New Jersey’s uninsured is bleak, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.  We urge Governor Christie and the state legislature to create a health insurance exchange quickly this session."

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About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.