New Jersey Governor Christie Officially Refuses to Implement State-Run Health Care Exchange
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
In case you missed it on Friday, Save Jerseyans, Governor Chris Christie rendered his final decision on the question of ObamaCare exchanges:
Deal with it yourselves.
“My administration is committed to meeting our obligation to comply with the Affordable Care Act, but only in a manner that is the most effective and efficient for the residents of New Jersey and the businesses that will carry the costs of this new program,” said Christie via a letter announcing his decision.
Click here to read Christie’s full letter to DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius delivering the “bad” news.
But it’s good news for New Jersey, folks. Or more specifically, good news for those of us who want to see this ghastly legislation fail after our failed attempts to defeat it through the courts and ballot boxes. Christie’s decision is in-line with those of 25 other states including our neighbor Pennsylvania; in essence, this move leaves it up to the federal government to run its own “online” insurance marketplace…
There are plenty of good reasons to loathe state exchanges. Christie didn’t like the numbers; for example, as the folks over NRO.com previously pointed out, “[r]esidents of states that create exchanges are subject to the $2,000-per-worker annual tax for noncompliance with the individual mandate. Refusing to set up the exchanges, on the other hand, could save millions of Americans billions of dollars in Obamacare taxes.”
Today’s decision was also Christie’s last recourse given the inescapable reality of President Obama’s reelection. There’s no good answers after November. The Governor previously vetoed two separate efforts by the Democrat-dominated New Jersey State Legislature to establish a state-run exchange. Now, with ObamaCare quickly running out of funding for its key initiatives, the President will have to scrap with the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to fund coverage for the citizens of those 25 states who refused to establish their own exchanges. What else is new…
Good job.