Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) signs a medical debt relief act.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you all. Thank you, Shabnam, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining
00:06us today as we sign a historic piece of legislation that will make our health care system more
00:13accessible and more affordable for more families all across New Jersey. And I want to thank
00:19right up front all of the advocates, activists, patients, and lawmakers, and we'll hear from
00:25a couple of them in a few minutes, who made today's victory possible, starting with the
00:31woman we just heard from. I always used to kid her, and I'm going to kid her again about
00:35the name of your office. You couldn't fit on the side of a tractor-trailer, but she's
00:43a wonderful leader, the Director of New Jersey's Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency.
00:48Let's hear it one more time for Shabnam Saleh. And you have been tirelessly dedicated to
00:58making this legislation a reality, along with everything you do to support our state's patients
01:04and families. In the four years since we launched the office, it's hard to believe, your team
01:10has helped lower costs for everything from health care insurance to prescription drugs.
01:16And our state is incredibly grateful for your leadership, as well as that of your colleagues.
01:20James Lloyd, where are you, James? Are you here? I don't see him. And the aforementioned
01:26Ed Doherty. Ed, are you with us? Okay. They've taken him. Not with us, but Ed's in our council's
01:33office, and I want to thank them as well in working to ensure that every New Jerseyan
01:38can access high-quality health care without breaking the bank. I also want to thank especially
01:44our legislative partners who helped get this legislation across the finish line, many of
01:49whom are with us today. And we're going to hear from the first two, Senator Shirley Turner
01:54and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson. Thank you both. We're in your backyard here
01:59in your district in the great Trenton, New Jersey. I also want to thank Dr. Herb Conway
02:03is with us, Wayne D'Angelo, Anthony Varelli, and to the many others who are not here who
02:10helped push this over the goal line, including Senate President Nick Scutari, Assembly Speaker
02:15Craig Coughlin, and Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, along with our friends with New Jersey
02:20Citizen Action, NJ Appleseed, and the many organizations, as well as patients and their
02:26families who advocated for this legislation since the very beginning. I also want to acknowledge
02:32our terrific, the one and only Lieutenant Governor Tahisha Way. I want to again re-acknowledge
02:38Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance, Justin Zimmerman, and the First
02:41Lady of the great state of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy. And finally, and most importantly,
02:46I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the members of Louisa Carman's family who are
02:51with us today. We just spent some private minutes together. Her dad, Glenn, her mom,
02:58Ann, sitting right behind Verlina and Shadanam, respectively. Cousins Ellen and Fenna, I don't
03:05think Adam is here yet, is he? Adam, nice to meet you. Where are you in life? In D.C.
03:10I'm sorry about the train. I was told by one of your cousins that it wasn't one of ours,
03:16so I was happy to, honored to meet you. And also to Brother Evan, who could not be here
03:22today, to Louisa's guy, Vitor, who's in Europe, I want to give them a shout out, and all the
03:28many other cousins. I was led to believe by the family that these are the representative
03:32cousins of many more. So God bless you all. And to each and every one of you, let me say
03:37thank you for being with us, and God bless you all, and God bless Louisa's memory. As
03:44Shadanam mentioned, this landmark and, I would argue, life-changing piece of legislation
03:49simply would not exist today without the vision, the passion, and the dedication of Louisa
03:56Bradlow-Carman. Since the very first day that she joined Shadanam's team back in 2021, I
04:04believe, she poured every ounce of herself into building a stronger, fairer, more accessible
04:10and more equitable health care system for New Jersey. And this legislation is truly
04:15the culmination of her years of devoted service to our state. I was saying to her family privately,
04:23we name a lot of things after a lot of people. And I would say Shirley, Verlina, their colleagues
04:28would agree, for the most part those are deserved. But this one is literally, this woman put
04:34a bunch of boulders on her back from day one and walked straight up a mountain to get this
04:39thing done. So this is so, so richly deserved to be in Louisa's name and memory. It's exactly
04:47why I mentioned during my State of the State address earlier this year, I called on our
04:53partners and I want to thank them again in the state legislature to not only send the
04:56bill to my desk, but to name it as well in Louisa's honor and memory. And though our
05:02hearts remain broken that she is no longer with us, this law, the Louisa Carman Medical
05:08Debt Relief Act, will always stand as a testament to the indispensable role that she played
05:14in transforming New Jersey's health care system for the better. And I cannot underscore
05:19that enough. In the years to come, families up and down our state will be able to access
05:25the care they need and sleep easier at night because of the reforms included in this legislation.
05:32It will protect generations of New Jerseyans from falling into medical debt and facing
05:36the risk of financial ruin. And frankly, that has never been more important than it is today.
05:43Because there are, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans struggling with
05:48crushing medical debt. In fact, right now in New Jersey, more than one in ten of our
05:54neighbors has medical debt in collection. And that number is even higher in black and
05:59brown communities. This growing crisis does not only threaten the economic well-being
06:06of our state's families, it also poses a threat to their physical health and well-being as
06:12well. Why, you may ask? Because we know that when someone is already saddled with medical
06:17debt, they are far less likely to seek out medical care in the future. They worry about
06:23being harassed by predatory medical debt collectors who, by the way, may garnish their wages or
06:30even seize their property. In other words, if someone who is already struggling with
06:35medical debt sees a warning sign about their health, they may avoid seeking help altogether.
06:41And as a result, they put their life needlessly at risk. It's dangerous, it's reckless, and
06:48it's wrong. So let us set one thing straight. Here in the wealthiest nation in the world,
06:54nobody should ever have to worry about being able to afford critical or potentially life-saving
07:00health care, period. And with the Louisa Karman Medical Debt Relief Act, I know Shabnam was
07:07involved in naming this act because it's got 18 words in it. Louisa and Karman are
07:14the only two that matter in this case. We are going to take a monumental step forward
07:19in ensuring that our state's families can seek out the care they need and when they
07:24need it without facing the risk of financial calamity. And importantly, this legislation
07:31represents the latest step forward in our administration's broader commitment with the
07:36help of Shabnam and Louisa and Shabnam's team and our legislative partners, again I
07:42want to thank them, to making New Jersey's health care system more affordable and more
07:46accessible. Over the past six and a half years, we have meaningfully lowered the cost of health
07:52coverage and helped more New Jerseyans than ever before sign up for health care insurance
07:59for the first time. And I want to thank Justin and his colleagues at DOBE for their leadership.
08:05In fact, just last year, nearly 400,000 people enrolled in a plan through Get Covered New
08:11Jersey, which was a record high. Additionally, and thanks to the leadership, again, of our
08:16friends in the legislature, we have also enacted one of the most comprehensive prescription
08:21drug price affordability and transparency legislative packages in the entire nation.
08:28With these reforms, we are capping out-of-pocket costs for critical and even life-saving medications.
08:34We have strengthened oversight over the companies that manage prescription drug plans. And we
08:40have also promoted greater price transparency across the entire pharmaceutical supply chain.
08:47Moreover, with last year's budget, our administration made our first-ever investment into combating
08:54medical debt with $10 million in new funding. And that was money that was well spent, because
09:00for every dollar invested into this effort, we can retire up to $100 in medical debt for
09:08tens of thousands of people.
09:11And then today, with the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act, we are making our boldest
09:15move yet in protecting New Jerseyans from predatory medical debt collectors. This law
09:22will reform the medical billing process so that no patient receives a bill while they
09:27are still recovering in their hospital bed. It will also keep medical bills out of collections
09:33for longer so families have more time to seek financial assistance or even appeal a charge.
09:40And this law will also ensure that medical debt cannot be reported to credit agencies,
09:46which will help prevent overdue medical bills from dragging down a patient's credit score,
09:51which can then in turn hinder their ability to get a job or to buy a home or to do other
09:56things in life. So in short, the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act will bring dignity
10:02to the medical bill payment process, it will keep more of our state's families out of debt,
10:07and it will provide patients the time and the peace of mind they need to fully recover.
10:14But above all, this law will help ensure that no family in New Jersey has to choose between
10:20seeking potentially life-saving care or falling into a medical debt trap.
10:25So with today's bill signing, we are recommitting ourselves to building a health care system
10:31that prioritizes patients over profits. And that is exactly the type of health care system
10:37that Louisa Carman envisioned, not just for New Jersey, but for our entire nation.
10:43So once again, I'm deeply honored, especially to stand with the family of Louisa, for this
10:50opportunity to commemorate her legacy with a law that will improve the lives of millions
10:55of New Jerseyans for many, many years, if not decades to come.
11:00Before I turn the podium over to my dear friend and great leader, Senator Shirley Turner,
11:04I want to mention that naming this law in Louisa's honor is not only fitting because
11:09of all the work that she poured into making its reforms a reality, this law is also a
11:15fitting tribute to Louisa because, as Shabnam mentioned, she had hoped to pursue a career
11:20in law, as we discussed with her family. I understand that she was even planning, I think,
11:26to start law school as early as next month or in September. And tragically, we will never
11:32have a chance to see Louisa become the brilliant, motivated, and passionate lawyer that we all
11:36know she would have been. But with this act, her brilliance and unwavering dedication to
11:43serving our most vulnerable neighbors will be eternalized as part of our state's history
11:49and its legal system forever. And together, we're going to do everything we can possibly
11:55do to continue building upon Louisa's proud legacy and ensure that every family in New
12:01Jersey can access the health care they deserve, no matter their economic status.
12:07Again, I want to thank everyone who made this legislation possible, and thank you all for
12:12being here today, especially Louisa's family. With that, please help me welcome one of the
12:18amazing sponsors, Trenton's own outstanding leader, Senator Shirley Turner.
12:33Good afternoon, everyone. First, I'd like to thank the family of Louisa Carman for being
12:41here today as we recognize her amazing, inspiring legacy.
12:49Louisa's work and research laid the foundation for providing financial relief from medical
12:56debt to millions of New Jerseyans. As we all know, Louisa was one of a kind, and we are
13:07deeply grateful for her service to the public and thankful that we can carry on her memory
13:15and purpose in such an impactful way.
13:20I also want to thank Governor Murphy for his leadership in alleviating medical debt for
13:27our residents. Two years ago, Governor Murphy initiated efforts to relieve the crushing
13:34debt of medicine costs and have eliminated the barriers to financial stability for too
13:42many of our families here in this state. Medical debt is an unfortunate burden for more than
13:501.5 million residents, many of whom are now adding the important layer of protection from
14:01extreme billing and collection practices that unfairly target individuals who have been
14:08struck by illness or medical emergencies. The financial burden of health care can also
14:13lead to an individual to, as Governor Murphy said, forego health care. No one should ever
14:18have to live in poor health because of the debt that they incurred in taking care of
14:23themselves or their families.
14:28I join everyone in thanking Governor Murphy for his leadership in alleviating medical
14:38debt. I join here today in thanking you, Governor Murphy, for bringing this issue of medical
14:43debt to the forefront of the agenda of our state. I also want to thank all of the legislative
14:50sponsors who supported S-2806 and to the many advocates and organizations that made this
15:00historic landmark legislation law.
15:05I am confident that we will continue to empower residents and provide our citizens here in
15:12the state of New Jersey with healthier and more financially secure futures. Now, we don't
15:20know unless we have incurred some kind of health care cost in this state, and it's not
15:28just in this state, it's across the country. The skyrocketing cost of health care has devastated
15:35the budgets and lives of so many people in this country, and also right here in the state
15:41of New Jersey. No one can sleep at night knowing that they owe as much money as they do to
15:50pay off these debts. And it impacts not only their mental health, but their physical health,
15:57and also it hinders them in terms of getting employment, jobs, as well as the ability to
16:05pay their bills, as well as getting loans, and also it impacts them in terms of being
16:13able to meet the cost of automobile insurance. And, of course, everybody wants to be able
16:19to have a home and a mortgage. This medical debt can prevent them from getting mortgages
16:27as well as car loans, and they pay dearly, more than what anybody else would pay because
16:33it's a debt. And, as the Governor indicated, it will protect our residents who have this
16:41unfortunate debt through no fault of their own. They will be protected from these debt
16:50collectors that hound them day and night. So, for all of you here today, thank you for
16:56coming out and making this day possible so that we in New Jersey can be in the forefront
17:03of stabilizing the people in our state today. New Jersey is a great place to live, and we
17:12want to keep everyone healthy and stable financially. Thank you very much.
17:27Senator, that was well framed, and thank you for that. And, as you rightfully point out,
17:32we're not an exception. This is a national challenge, and I love the fact that we're
17:37taking steps like the ones we're taking today to push back on it. So, God bless you and
17:42thank you. Again, there are some outstanding legislators with us today, but speaking on
17:47behalf of the sponsors in her chamber, again, Trenton Zone, please help me welcome another
17:51outstanding leader, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson. Good afternoon, everyone. And, again, I want
18:04to thank Louisa Carmichael's, Carmen's family for allowing us to continue her legacy. And,
18:13protocol has been established. You know, I think this is what a good example of what
18:17a good government looks like when you have the legislature, you have both the houses,
18:23the assembly and the senate. But, these issues don't just come up. They affect people. These
18:29are real people's lives. And, anyone who has ever faced the burden of a health care crisis
18:36immediately followed by overwhelming medical debt knows how extremely life-challenging
18:42how it can be afterwards. And, so far too long, the burden of medical debt impacts uninsured
18:48people, parents and those in lower incomes. And, yes, even people with insurance also
18:54face medical debt. Many of you don't know, but I have Crohn's disease and I've had it
18:59since the early 90s. Looking back, I can see that every 10 years I have a crisis and it
19:05requires me to go to the hospital. I remember I was early on in my career. I had just gotten
19:12a job and I was, I had a flare-up. I had internal bleeding. I was still living at home and my
19:20first thought was like, I've got to get to the hospital. My second thought was, does
19:26my insurance cover ambulatory services to the hospital? And, my mom said, we've got
19:32to go. We don't have time to talk about this. Let's just go. So, I went to the hospital
19:36and I did all the testing and I knew I needed to have surgery. And, so I said, well, did
19:41you contact my gastrointestinologist? And, they said, no. He's not affiliated with this
19:46hospital. So, now I'm like, okay, crisis. I need to get to his hospital because I want
19:50him to do the surgery. And, I just kept thinking to myself like, are you nuts? You're thinking
19:56about all of these things and you need to be focusing on your health care. So, but I
20:02was in the process of buying a car. I wanted to buy a house and I started thinking about
20:08how my credit score was going to be impacted. It was just crazy. It was unbelievable. But,
20:14it's true. Many things are determined by your credit score and we've heard it. It's your
20:19mortgage rate. It's your interest rate. It's if you can get an apartment. Can I get a car
20:24loan at a decent rate? How is this going to affect my homeowner's insurance or my life
20:28insurance policy? Employment also checks your credit scores. What about my student loans?
20:34If I want to go back to school, what is that going to look like? Even if you're a cosigner,
20:39your credit score is still evaluated. So, I don't have to imagine what this feels like.
20:44I live this. I have lived experiences checking my insurance, making sure it's paid. How much
20:50do I owe? What do I need to budget to get to the next phase? So, I've lived through
20:55this and so I have to say that no one should have to go through this. So, I'm really extremely
21:01grateful to Governor Murphy for signing this, for Louisa for having the forethought that
21:07these issues come from the community and it's from the community to the capital that we're
21:12here today. We're here making legislations that's going to impact thousands and millions
21:17of people here in New Jersey. And so, I'm eternally grateful. Thank you, Governor.
21:22Thank you to our allies and our advocates that have gotten us to this point. We did
21:25meetings on the weekends, Sunday calls. Our staff is tremendous. And so, I say thank you
21:31to anyone that put hands on this bill so that we can continue the Louisa Carman bill, medical
21:37debt bill. Thank you so much.
21:38I just said to Verlina, it was incredibly powerful. You know, if you're not careful,
21:54some of this stuff can seem abstract, but it's real. And Louisa Carman got this over
22:02the goal line, and that's real. Verlina, thank you. With that, I'd love to invite
22:06the folks up who think they're getting a pen to join me, so I sign this into law.