Freeholder Kelly warns against Obamacare repeal

Jan. 19--TOMS RIVER -- One of the most conservative members on the Ocean County Board of Freeholders has warned against a rush in his own Republican Party to repeal Obamacare.

The statement of Obamacare support from Freeholder Jack Kelly, director of law and public safety, came at the end of Wednesday's regular session of the all-GOP, five-member board.

"I have a daughter who is 34-years-old who is using the Affordable Care Act as the only insurance she could afford," Kelly said. "She makes about $10 an hour, so she's not making a great deal of money. She needs the insurance because she fights -- I don't even want to go into what it is -- but she has something that she needs to take care of. Without the Affordable Care Act, I don't know how."

Kelly was speaking about daughter Dawn Marie Kelly who has been seeking treatment and recovery for an opioid addiction these past five years.

"She's no longer in that age bracket where she could be covered under our insurance," Kelly said. "She doesn't have a job that provides insurance and she needs insurance. So there is a reason for this type of insurance that protects everyone."

Kelly made the statement after a political supporter of his criticized the Affordable Care Act during the public comment portion of Wednesday's meeting.

Garry Black, a Berkeley Township Public Works employee and a regular fixture at freeholder meetings, almost always addresses the board during its public comment period to express his adoration for the freeholders and their policies.

This time, however, Black had another view.

"As far as the Affordable Care Act, to me, I say, 'good riddance,'" Black said. "I'm a public worker, I have good insurance, we don't have deductibles. Too many people with good insurance think that the Affordable Care Act gives people gives insurance like we have. The fact is it doesn't. I know people who got stuck on Obamacare. They got insane deductibles."

Lynda Fote, president of the Ocean County Chapter of the National Organization for Women, spoke in favor of the Affordable Care Act. She called on the board to use its influence with the county's congressional delegation to oppose the repeal of Obamacare until a comparable alternative was adopted.

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On Friday, U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-New Jersey, who represents the county seat in Congress, became one of only nine Republicans to vote against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act in the House of Representatives. In a final vote of 227-198, in which not a single Democrat voted for repeal, MacArthur was the only Republican lawmaker from New Jersey to break with his party's leadership on the issue.

"I know that as freeholders you do not have a vote on the Affordable Care Act, that responsibility belongs to our congressmen ... and senators...," Fote said. "However, you are the only elected officials who represent all of the citizens of Ocean County.

"I am here today to ask you to create a resolution to support, literally tens of thousands of our family members, friends and neighbors, who are covered by the Affordable Care Act and by the Medicaid expansion, who are in danger of losing their coverage," she said. "Clearly, it appears that the Affordable Care Act will be repealed. The question then is, what will replace it?"

"I don't call it Obamacare, I call it Obama-scam," Black said after Fote had spoken.

"I disagree with my good friend, Garry Black," Kelly later said.

The freeholder said he wished that everyone would step back from the partisan rhetoric that has hardened attitudes about Obamacare on both sides of the political spectrum.

"There are parts of the Affordable Care Act that are unaffordable," Kelly said. "Garry talked about some of them. But what my daughter uses is affordable and in fact in our income bracket. If she didn't have that, she would really be in trouble. So it is helping people. There are other people that are facing very large increases (in healthcare costs) and somehow all of that has to be part of the equation. ... The problem is, all of those in Congress spend too much time attacking the other side instead of talking about the issue.

"Some people really do rely on that that actually need it and there's nothing else they would have if not for that," Kelly said to applause. "So we got to be careful what we do moving forward."

During the meeting Wednesday evening, Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari referenced a recent United Way report that found 40 percent of Ocean County households are either living in poverty or considered working poor.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com

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