TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) — Thousands of New Jersey families can breathe a little easier after Gov. Phil Murphy announced his administration will eliminate some, if not all, of certain families’ medical debt.

Murphy’s administration will relieve 17,905 residents owing $61.6 million to Prime Healthcare hospitals as part of a collective effort between the state of New Jersey’s American Rescue Plan funds and Undue Medical Debt.

The state will also relieve 31,748 New Jersey residents owing more than $38.4 million to secondary debt market providers, including collections agencies.

Murphy said this is part of a major initiative to make health care more affordable and accessible for New Jerseyans.

“When someone is sick or injured, they should be able to focus on what matters most — getting better — rather than worrying about how they will pay for the life-saving care and services rendered to them. New Jerseyans should not have to scrimp and save to ensure their basic health care needs are met, or to pay down lofty medical debts resulting from tragic accidents or devastating diagnoses,” Murphy said. 

Murphy’s announcement comes weeks after the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act was signed. The act protects New Jersey families from accruing medical debt against predatory medical debt collections and prohibits medical debt reporting to credit reporting agencies.

“Medical debt accumulates very quickly and can follow a person for decades,” Murphy said. “With this strategic investment and our partnership with Undue, we are wiping the slate clean for thousands of New Jersey families, eliminating their debt, and making a real, tangible impact on their lives.”

How will I know if my debt is getting relieved? 

According to Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement, those who qualify for medical debt relief are either four times or below the federal poverty level or have medical debts equivalent to 5% or more of their annual income. 

There is no application process for this one-time medical debt abolishment.

Anyone benefitting from the medical debt relief will receive a letter from Undue Medical Debt in the mail starting the week of Aug. 19.

Three straight days of cooler, dry conditions are ahead in New Jersey before temperatures return to more typical summer levels by Friday.

Highs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will only climb into the 70s, temperatures more typical of late September or early October, the National Weather Service said.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is slated to resign by the end of the day Tuesday, about a month after a jury convicted him on federal bribery charges.

Menendez signaled his resignation last month in a letter to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who said Friday he’s tapping a former top aide to succeed the three-term incumbent.

George Helmy will succeed Menendez until the November election results for the Senate seat are certified late in the month, the governor said. At that point, Murphy said Helmy will resign and he’ll name the winner of the election to the seat.

The stakes in the Senate election are high, with Democrats holding on to a narrow majority. Republicans have not won a Senate election in Democratic-leaning New Jersey in over five decades.

Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and Republican hotel developer Curtis Bashaw are facing off in the general election.

Helmy, 44, served as Murphy’s chief of staff from 2019 until 2023 and currently serves as an executive at one of the state’s largest health care providers, RWJBarnabas Health. He previously served as Sen. Cory Booker’s state director in the Senate.

Menendez, 70, was convicted on charges that he used his influence to meddle in three different state and federal criminal investigations to protect the businessmen. Prosecutors said he helped one bribe-paying friend get a multimillion-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another keep a contract to provide religious certification for meat bound for Egypt.

He was also convicted of taking actions that benefited Egypt’s government in exchange for bribes, including providing details on personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and ghostwriting a letter to fellow senators regarding lifting a hold on military aid to Egypt. FBI agents also said they found stacks of gold bars and $480,000 hidden in Menendez’s house.

Menendez denied all of the allegations, and in in a letter to Murphy last month, he said he’s planning to appeal the conviction.

The resignation appears to mark the end of a nearly lifelong political career for Menendez, who was first elected to his local school board just a couple of years after his high school graduation. He was also elected to the state Legislature and Congress before heading to the Senate.

Menendez is the only U.S. senator indicted twice.

In 2015, he was charged with letting a wealthy Florida eye doctor buy his influence through luxury vacations and campaign contributions. After a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in 2017, New Jersey federal prosecutors dropped the case rather than put him on trial again.

He served as a Democrat in Congress but decided not to run in the primary this year as his court case was unfolding. He filed to run as an independent in the fall, though he withdrew his name from the ballot on Friday, according to a letter he sent to state election officials.

Copyright
© 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.