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HEALTH

SATURDAY 12.03.16

If President Obamas Affordable Care Act is repealed,

more than 500,000 N.J. residents may lose coverage

Toni Ann Marletta (left) of

Middletown was sentenced
Friday to seven years in state
prison for the 2015 hit-and-run
death of 15-year-old Marissa
Procopio (far left).

HURTING NEW JERSEYS

ECONOMY AND PATIENTS
LINDY WASHBURN @LINDYWA

Gov. Chris Christie

defended his decision
as recently as August,
saying: There were
many naysayers, both
inside the state and
around the country,
who criticized that
choice. They were
wrong then, and
they're proven wrong
now. He said the
expansion is saving the
state money, and was
the right decision for
New Jersey.

If President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican

Congress carry out their promise to repeal the Affordable
Care Act, the loss of federal Medicaid funding could mean
a loss of health coverage for more than 500,000 New Jersey
residents.
The consequences for those individuals as well as for
hospitals and the states economy would be devastating,
a report by a progressive Trenton think tank warned this
week.
More than twice as many state residents gained coverage through Gov. Chris Christies decision to expand Medicaids eligibility guidelines as did through healthcare.gov,
the federal marketplace that provides subsidies to purchase insurance.
Both are parts of the Affordable Care Act, but the marketplace got most of the attention, because of rising premiums and a drop in the number of insurers offering coverage. Medicaid, on the other hand, has appeared to work as
intended. Many new Medicaid beneficiaries previously
See COVERAGE, Page 2A

480K

In New Jersey,
Medicaid
enrollment has
grown by 480,000
since 2014. Over the
last three years, the
state saved $1
billion. State
funding for hospital
charity care was
halved, as hospitals
saw fewer
uninsured patients.
Some 24,000 health
jobs were added to
the state economy.

Leonardo
woman gets
7 years for
fatal hit, run
KATIE PARK @KATHSPARK

FREEHOLD BOROUGH - Toni Ann Marletta stood

stone-faced Friday morning as a judge sentenced her to
seven years in state prison for fatally striking 15-yearold Marissa Procopio with her car in the summer of
2015. Marletta fled the scene while commanding three
teen girls in her backseat to remain mum.
The mother of the victim Danielle Adams, who told
News 12 she remarried and now goes by that surname,
cried quietly and hissed her satisfaction while mumbling profanities toward the defendant. Adams clapped
when Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner imposed
the sentence.
Marletta, 50, of the Leonardo section of Middletown,
will serve a seven-year term for the second-degree
crime of knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal accident
and a concurrent four-year sentence for the third-degree crime of endangering the welfare of children. The
judge also imposed an additional six-month concurrent
term for not having up-to-date car insurance and suspended her drivers license for a year.
Peter OMara, Marlettas attorney, said his client unSee FATAL, Page 10A

Judge: No special prosecutor for gov

ALLISON PRIES @ALLISONPRIES

A request to appoint a special prosecutor in the official misconduct case against Gov. Chris Christie for
his alleged role in the Bridgegate scandal was denied
Friday by a Superior Court judge.
Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol of the Bergen
Vicinage said in an 11-page opinion that she was dismissing the motion by Wayne resident William J.
Brennan because he lacked standing to file it.

U.S. unemployment rate

falls to 4.6 percent a
nine-year low. Page 1B

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
LOTTERIES

6D
7D
5D
3A
2A

Brennan, a retired Teaneck firefighter and an outspoken critic of government officials, wanted the
court to disqualify the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the Bergen County Prosecutors Office and all New Jersey county prosecutors from examining any possible link to Christie in Bridgegate
because the governor was essentially their boss.
Last month, Christies former deputy chief of
See DENIED, Page 8A

MOVIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER

4D
6A
9A
1C
8C

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