Obama Administration Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell Visits Jersey

JERSEY CITY — Mayor Steven Fulop welcomed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell to Jersey City last week as part of a tour designed to increase Affordable Care Act enrollment in targeted states, as the 2016 Open Enrollment period gets underway. Jersey City has led the state in ACA enrollment over the previous two years.
“Access to healthcare is a basic human right and in the 21st century nobody should be denied that right based on socioeconomic status,” said Mayor Fulop. “That’s why we’ve done everything we can to reach people in their community, where they are, to get them signed up for affordable health care.”
During the 2016 Open Enrollment period, Secretary Burwell announced four states that will be targeted to drive increased enrollment. New Jersey is one of those states – and in particular, northern New Jersey.
Jersey City itself, meanwhile, has led the state in expanding coverage under the ACA. At the kickoff of the Affordable Care Act in October of 2013, approximately 55,000 Jersey City residents, nearly 20 percent, were without healthcare coverage. “Through the City’s aggressive outreach with our network of certified application counselors, Jersey City has assisted thousands of residents in receiving healthcare coverage, which is more than any other city in New Jersey,” Fulop said.
Secretary Burwell visited the Metropolitan Health Center in Jersey City’s Ward F, then held a roundtable discussion with Fulop, members of Congress, state legislators and healthcare professional from throughout NorthernNew Jersey.