Sweeney pushes healthcare proposal amid Medicaid uncertainty

In the waning days of the gubernatorial primary, former state Senate President Steve Sweeney presented his plan for healthcare under a Sweeney governorship and condemned a congressional GOP budget bill that Democrats worry will interrupt medical care for millions of Americans.

In a Camden press conference within eyeshot of the Delaware River, Sweeney pushed his “Jersey Option” healthcare plan, a public health insurance plan that he says would help people maintain coverage if they lose access to Medicaid. The issue is top of mind for Democrats as they work to stifle passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill” in Congress, a Trump-pushed budget law that would cut hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding. 

Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), a doctor who endorsed Sweeney in 2023, said Friday that officials expect about 350,000 New Jerseyans to lose health insurance under the current version of the bill, which passed the House but could be changed in the Senate. Republicans have said the cuts are meant to strengthen Medicaid, including by adding work requirements and additional safeguards to prevent undocumented immigrants and other ineligible people from receiving benefits, but Democrats say the cuts go too far.

“‘Make America Healthy Again?’ It’s a joke,” Conaway said about the oft-used phrase of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “They are doing everything to make America less healthy and less secure in their health insurance.”

Sweeney and Conaway were joined by a number of South Jersey legislators on the waterfront in Camden with a statue of iconic boxer (and Camden County Sheriff) Jersey Joe Walcott over their shoulders. Sweeney, one of six Democrats looking to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, called GOP supporters of the bill “heartless bastards” and said he is the candidate best prepared to ensure healthcare access for vulnerable New Jerseyans.

“Our seniors are being harmed. Our disabled are going to be harmed. The working poor are being harmed,” Sweeney said. “We’re going to take food out of babies’ mouths to give tax cuts to billionaires.”

The “Jersey Option” would be available to all residents in the state, according to the proposal, as an alternative to federal or employer-sponsored insurance. The system would be managed by a third party and would reform the much-maligned pharmacy benefit manager system, which allows third-party companies to negotiate drug pricing and benefits.

“It’s going to provide opportunities for people to get health care, for people that are going to lose health care, to join the state plan, so that they can be protected,” he said.

As he as done throughout the campaign, he argued his years of experience working in Trenton makes him best-equipped to be governor. He said he doesn’t believe his Democratic opponents, a field that includes three mayors and two members of Congress, have the experience to capably run a state government on day one.

“You know what you get with an outsider? Somebody comes in and doesn’t know what they’re doing,” Sweeney said.

More than 180,000 Democrats have already voted by mail, according to Associated Press elections researcher Ryan Dubicki. Election Day is June 10.