ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

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Christie lags in dollars

Campaign PAC raises $11M, well behind top rivals
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
TRENTON Gov. Chris Christie is lagging in the
money primary for 2016 presidential candidates.
Christies super-PAC said Tuesday its raised $11 million since being formed in February far under
amounts raised by several other GOP candidates and
the groups supporting them, including Jeb Bushs $114
million, Ted Cruzs $51 million and Marco Rubios $44
million.
Hillary Clinton, front-runner for the Democratic
presidential nomination, has $69 million in backing
thus far.
Christie is in ninth place among Republican presi-

dential candidates in a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll. He officially entered the race June 30.
America Leads, the super-PAC supporting Christie,
said it has $10.7 million cash on hand.
Thanks to the generous support of a diverse set of
donors from across the country, we exceeded our
goal for the quarter and are in strong position as
the campaign gets under way, the groups director, Phil Cox, said in a statement. People are
responding to Gov. Christies strength, substance and willingness to tell it like it is.
Cox said America Leads will begin advertisSee DOLLARS, Page 4A

HOSPITALS MERGE:
BETTER FOR YOU?

WEDNESDAY 07.15.15

Price soars
for seats to
see Pharoah
STEPHEN EDELSON @STEVEEDELSON

Barnabas, Robert Wood Johnson to form

New Jerseys largest health care system
MICHAEL L. DIAMOND @MDIAMONDAPP

Barnabas Health plans to merge with

Robert Wood Johnson Health System, the
two health care chains said Tuesday, in a deal
that would bring together two landmark hospitals and create New Jerseys biggest
health care system.
Executives said the new company, called
RWJ Barnabas Health, would be in a better
position to deliver high-quality care in the
age of health care reform.
Were in the middle of that shift, said
Stephen K. Jones, president and chief executive officer of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson
Health System. The need to shift in order to
increase access, improve experience, manage cost.
I think the impact on patients would be
increased access to all of our clinical programs, Barry H. Ostrowsky, president and

If you have any lingering doubts concerning Triple

Crown winner American Pharoahs popularity right
now, just take a peek at seat prices for the $1 million
William Hill Haskell Invitational on secondary ticket
markets.
Take StubHub, the online broker owned by eBay,
where reserved seats in the front row of Monmouth
Parks grandstand mezzanine are on sale for $1,175, or
89 times higher than their $13 face value.
While thats an extreme example, most of the reserve seats for sale on StubHub are well over the $100
mark, even though the highest face value for a Haskell
ticket is just $19.
Compared to previous years when weve seen just
handfuls of Haskell tickets, right now we have 360 for
sale on our site, which is up from last week, said Chris
Matcovich, vice president of data and operations for
TiqIQ, a secondary ticket marketplace.
The average this year has been as high as $184, and
weve never had an average at any point at more than
$94 for Haskell tickets. There was a dip in price last
See PHAROAH, Page 4A

chief executive officer of Barnabas

Health, said in an interview. There isnt a
level of care we dont possess in this new
enterprise.
The merger of West Orange-based
Barnabas and New Brunswick-based
Robert Wood Johnson had long been rumored, and it continues the rapid consolidation in the hospital industry. Meridian
Health signed an agreement in May to
merge with Hackensack University
Health Network in what was, until now,
New Jerseys biggest hospital merger.

Hospitals under pressure

Hospitals have been under pressure to
rein in costs since the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act, often called
Obamacare, went into effect in 2010, in
See HOSPITALS, Page 4A

GETTY IMAGES

American Pharoah back in the barn after winning the Belmont

Stakes in Elmont, New York. The Triple Crown winners next
race will be Monmouth Parks Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2.

Iran nuke deal: Whats next. 1B Reactions in N.J. 6A Views of Pluto. 1B

INVESTIGATION: BETRAYAL OF TRUST

Cracks appear in scam alliance

SHANNON MULLEN @MULLENAPP

Fourth in a weeklong series about how the system

designed to protect the elderly is abused.
As a child, Linda Carestia loved visiting her Auntie
Irmas toy shop on her visits to the Jersey Shore.
Irma Schwarzberg really a much older cousin
let Carestia pick any toy she wanted, provided it wasnt
too big for her to lug home on the train back to MasADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
OBITUARIES

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OPINION
SPORTS
TABLE
WEATHER
YOUR MONEY

sachusetts.
Along with the sweet taste of salt water taffy and
the deep-fried aromas along Atlantic Citys famed
boardwalk, those toys made Schwarzbergs adopted
home seem like a magical place.
It was easy to see why Schwarzberg, whom Carestia
describes as a feisty, spark plug of a woman, left
See SCAM, Page 4A
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 168
SINCE 1879