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Kean Jr. voting to advance House Republicans’ proposed Medicaid cuts would be “politically toxic”
NJ Spotlight News is highlighting how Tom Kean Jr. is poised to help Republicans gut Medicaid, a program that roughly 2 million people across New Jersey rely on for health care coverage – all to pay for trillions in tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. A member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Kean Jr. is crucial to Republicans’ plan to enact the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history.
Kean Jr. has spent months lying to his constituents that he would not touch Medicaid, yet Overlook Medical Center, located in Kean Jr.s’ district, is projected to lose $3 million under Kean Jr. and House Republicans’ plan.
In case you missed it…
NJ Spotlight News: With Medicaid threatened, Kean’s committee seat may cost him
By Benjamin J. Hulac
May 13, 2025
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People jockey and scrap to get seats on the Energy and Commerce Committee […] Now that Kean has a seat on the sought-after panel, it could become politically toxic.
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Republicans on Capitol Hill are assembling a massive bill to cut taxes primarily for high-income earners and corporations while slashing spending on federal programs for the public, notably to a broad array of social safety net services.
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Kean is one of 30 Republicans on the committee that will begin debate Tuesday and potentially pass legislation that could take away health coverage through Medicaid, the 60-year-old health insurance program for the poor now covering about 82 million people.
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The legislation teed up for debate would remove about 8.6 million people from Medicaid enrollment, according to a preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan agency that advises Congress on economic policy.
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Beyond the possible broad social implications, Kean’s vote will likely provide political fodder for Democrats looking to flip his district in the 2026 midterm elections, when the political party in power typically struggles.
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Within New Jersey, that would mean 200,000 people would be removed from Medicaid, if cuts are distributed evenly across the U.S., according to New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank. The group made that projection based on the CBO report, a representative said.
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Kean’s office did not respond to a request for comment about how he plans to vote or if he would try to amend the bill
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About 73,000 people in his district are enrolled in Medicaid, according to data from KFF, a health policy research group […]
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Roughly 2 million people across New Jersey, including children and the physically disabled, receive Medicaid coverage.
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The committee is scheduled to begin a meeting Tuesday at 2 p.m. to write and vote on its portion of the broader mammoth bill.
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Kean’s seat is one of 35 seats in the House Democrats are trying to flip in the 2026 midterms — and they’re closely watching his vote, like other vulnerable Republicans, on Medicaid.
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“The latest bill makes it crystal clear: these extremists are targeting Medicaid, threatening essential health care and plotting to hike costs—all to bankroll massive tax handouts for billionaire donors like Elon Musk at the expense of middle-class families,” Justin Chermol, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raises money to elect Democrats to Congress, said in a statement Monday. “The only question now is—will Kean Jr. cave to the extremists and sell out his constituents yet again?”
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