State health chief says budget plan ‘protects what matters most’

New Jersey’s health commissioner told lawmakers Thursday that his department’s $2.79 billion annual spending plan aims to shore up the state’s health systems against various fiscal threats while continuing to protect its most vulnerable residents.

Health Commissioner Raynard Washington warned members of the Senate Budget Committee that the state’s structural budget deficit, the end of pandemic relief funding, and pending changes to Medicaid forced state officials to make difficult spending choices.

“While the state can’t fix the problems federal policy is creating, this proposed budget protects what matters most while offering some stability to our health care ecosystem and the residents of our state,” Washington told lawmakers.

NJ lawmakers defend spending slated for cuts by governor

Gov. Mikie Sherrill presented her $60.7 billion budget proposal to the Legislature last month, and lawmakers are now speaking to state department heads about their individual spending requests. Legislators have until July 1 to return a finalized budget to Sherrill for her signature.

While Sherrill’s plan would increase funds in some areas, like the Department of Human Services, which oversees the Medicaid program, it would reduce revenue for the Department of Health by 3.6% compared to the current fiscal year, budget documents show. State funding for Washington’s department is down 7.3%, to $1.4 billion, with the rest coming from federal sources or various fees.

Despite these reductions, Washington said the budget prioritizes “core public health programs and systems” that must survive, regardless of federal funding or policy changes.

“It advances key priorities for the Sherrill administration as well: Health care cost affordability and transparency, protecting our children, and delivering high-quality government services efficiently and effectively,” he told lawmakers.

State experts have warned that Trump administration changes to Medicaid could force 1 in 5 New Jersey members out of the program and cost the state billions in federal aid annually. The federal- and state-funded program covers 1.8 million residents here.

Some lawmakers pressed Washington to know why some programs were funded in the Democratic governor’s budget proposal while others were cut or reduced. Members from both political parties said they had priorities that were not included by Sherrill that they want to see supported.

Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) asked about cuts to the VNA Health Group, which runs family health programs, senior vaccine clinics, an LGBTQ initiative, and more, and would lose $2 million in state money under Sherrill’s proposal.

“We’ll be working to try and reinstate some of those dollars,” O’Scanlon said.

Sen. Michael Testa (R-Cumberland) asked why the state couldn’t find $1 million to fund Samaritan, which he said is the only palliative care program in South Jersey. The budget proposal includes $3 million for a similar program run by Holy Name hospital in Bergen County, and grants tens of millions to hospital initiatives in North Jersey, he noted. The Samaritan program serves 8,000 and has proven its value, Testa said.

“Some decisions are made on a ledger that aren’t necessarily taking in the full scope of the needs of the people. The people of South Jersey,” he said.

Fellow South Jerseyan Sen. John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) also spoke up to support Samaritan, which he said fell victim to a wide swath of cuts Sherrill seeks to make to programs that lawmakers funded at the end of last year’s budget season with little public oversight.

“They do a terrific job,” Burzichelli said of Samaritan.

Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), the Senate’s budget chair, said some of these decisions were likely made by Sherrill’s office or officials at Treasury, not the Department of Health.

Washington said “some tough decisions” had to be made.

“An analysis was done to understand how and where we could cut and be as fiscally responsible as possible,” he said.

Washington focused his remarks on some of the Health Department’s highest costs, like hospital aid, which he said would total $3.6 billion in all. That includes some $655 million in so-called formula aid, like charity care, quality improvement payments, and support for graduate medical education, a slight increase over the current year.

Washington also flagged an extra $4 million to expand access to vaccinations and ensure the state is properly tracking immunization status, tasks he said are growing priorities as measles continues to spread in some states. New Jersey has had no reported cases in 2026, while 12 cases were identified last year.

He said just over 91% of people in New Jersey have been fully vaccinated, a level he called “concerning as we see these illnesses pop up around the country.”

Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex) asked Washington why immunization rates are falling when vaccines “are safe, they are preventing highly transmissible diseases and they are, for the most part, widely available.”

Washington said some parents don’t know the importance of vaccinating their children, while others are hesitant or skeptical, with a growing number requesting exemptions.

“So the collection of all those things is creating a situation where our overall rates are going down,” he said.

Washington said the biggest proposed spending increase is for operations at New Jersey’s four state-run psychiatric hospitals, for which overall funding would jump 60% to nearly $61 million. These sites employ roughly 4,500 of the department’s 6,000 staff, he said.

Burzichelli asked about staffing gaps at the state hospitals, noting the department is short about 500 workers. Sarlo questioned the high cost of paying temporary clinical staff at these facilities, where the state has struggled to hire full-time doctors and nurses.

Washington said the cost of providing 24/7 care for 1,200 extremely vulnerable people is significant and growing, and finding staff remains a challenge.

“Running these facilities is increasingly costly as inflation and other factors have driven up utility bills, medical supplies, and practically every other operational cost,” he said.