STATEMENT ON STATE’S USE OF PUBLIC RESOURCES TO RESOLVE CONTRACT DISPUTE BETWEEN HORIZON AND CAPITAL HEALTH SYSTEMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawrence Township, NJ – Responding to the State’s involvement in the attempted resolution of the contract dispute between Horizon and Capital Health, 15th District assembly candidate Kim Taylor (R-Lawrence) issued the following statement:

“While I am concerned for the well-being and health of the 3,500 local residents covered by Horizon and treated by Capital Health who are impacted by the de-designation of the Fuld Campus as an in-network provider, I am also very concerned by the State’s involvement in the attempted resolution of a contract dispute between two private businesses and the use of public resources for private business interests.

Why is the State interfering in the business of the private sector? Why is the State using taxpayer resources to resolve this particular dispute? Are these same services readily available to all companies in contract disputes with other businesses? Are these ‘conflict resolution services’ available to private taxpaying citizens? Even if Capital Health and Horizon were to reimburse the State ‘for services rendered,’ there is still a problem because it appears that the State including Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton), both of whom support the State’s involvement in resolving this matter, has a vested interest in the outcome.

What is the agenda here? Where were Watson Coleman and Gusciora on the recent increases in health insurance premiums for state worker benefits? Are they really concerned now or are they just grandstanding? While it would in my view be tragic for residents insured by Horizon to lose access to in-network coverage at Capital Health-Fuld, it is not the place of the State to force private parties to the table to forge an agreement between them. The State can’t effectively manage its own financial affairs, why would anyone trust the State to correctly resolve a private business conflict such as this one? For the sake of the residents most directly affected by the impasse, I encourage Horizon and Capital Health to continue their own efforts to reach an appropriate solution, one that preserves the principles of quality health care and responsive health services. The residents insured by Horizon and treated by Capital Health-Fuld professionals deserve to have the focus zoom in on what matters most to them - access to quality healthcare at costs they can reasonably afford - while the taxpayers of New Jersey deserve to see an end to the use of public resources for selected private interests.”

For more information on the Taylor and Graf plan to restore prosperity to the 15th legislative district and across the state, visit www.taylorandgraf.net.

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