Physician: “Tom Kean Jr.’s ‘big bill’ vote hurts N.J. — and his father’s legacy”

The physician notes that Kean Jr.’s vote will “strip health insurance from more than 315,000 New Jersey residents — including over 20,000 people in his own district” and calls on voters to “hold our representatives accountable for the choices they make.”

Read the blistering column for yourself:

• Growing up in Boonton, my family admired Gov. Tom Kean.
• We were Democrats, yet we respected the Republican governor because he led with principle and put New Jersey first. He listened, he governed with compassion — and he earned our trust, even when we disagreed.
• That legacy made the outcome of President Trump[’s] spending bill all the more painful.
• Watching the debate over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” I hoped Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who represents New Jersey’s 7th District, would do the right thing. He is, after all, his father’s son.
• Yet when he voted for legislation that will strip health insurance from more than 315,000 New Jersey residents — including over 20,000 people in his own district — it felt like a betrayal not only of the people he represents, but of everything his father stood for.
• These are Americans. They are working families, people with disabilities, caregivers, and others who cannot access insurance from an employer or their state health exchange.
• The bill’s “work requirement” may sound reasonable, but in practice, it’s a bureaucratic barrier and a solution in search of a problem. Across the country, 64% of Medicaid recipients are already working. The remaining 36% are almost all caregivers, have a disability, students or are retired.
• States that have tried similar policies have seen surges in paperwork and confusion. Even those who do work — like single parents juggling multiple jobs — often lose coverage simply because they fail to navigate the red tape. That’s not fiscal responsibility; it’s deliberate disenfranchisement of the most vulnerable.
• Hospitals and nursing homes rely on a funding mechanism called the “provider tax” to keep their doors open, especially in underserved areas. By slashing this funding, the new law will accelerate closures — particularly in rural and low-income communities. Even facilities that remain open may cut essential services like mental health care. Overcrowded emergency rooms will become the norm, not the exception. That affects all of us, regardless of whether we’re currently insured.
• For now, we cannot undo the Republicans’ new law. But we can — and must — hold our representatives accountable for the choices they make.
• Tom Kean Jr.’s vote in favor of this legislation is not just a political decision. It’s a decision that will have real-life consequences for families across New Jersey. And for those of us who remember his father as a principled, compassionate leader, it’s hard not to ask: What happened?
• In the coming months, as the impact of this law ripples through our hospitals, homes, and communities, New Jerseyans deserve answers.

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