Democrats Gopal, Houghtaling, and Downey Continue to Highlight Record of Success in Fighting for Quality Affordable Healthcare

OCEAN – Today, Democrats Vin Gopal, Eric Houghtaling, and Joann Downey are highlighting their efforts and continued commitment to extend quality, affordable healthcare to all of New Jersey’s residents.

“Senator Gopal, and Assembly Members Houghtaling & Downey have been staunch allies to patients and healthcare workers throughout the pandemic,” said NJ Doctor-Patient Alliance Board Chair Dr. Stavros Christoudias. “Their continued advocacy has remained focused on affordable, high quality care. Residents of Monmouth County and residents of New Jersey as a whole continued to have access to high quality care from the very beginning of the pandemic due to their efforts. I wholeheartedly support the re-election of all three members of the legislative team as pivotal to the future of healthcare in New Jersey.”

“We are proud of the work we’ve done to ensure healthcare services are affordable and accessible through the pandemic, but understand there is much work still to be done,” said Democrats Vin Gopal, Eric Houghtaling, and Joann Downey. “We are committed to the belief that healthcare is a right that should be protected at the state level and will continue fighting to ensure New Jersey’s healthcare system is more effective, affordable, and accessible to every resident.”

Below are some of the Gopal, Houghtaling, and Downey team’s top accomplishments on healthcare:

• Worked to curb New Jersey’s opioid epidemic by successfully sponsoring and fighting for legislation that limited access to addictive opioid drugs and expanded substance abuse treatment resources.
• Increased access to life-saving opioid antidotes by successfully sponsoring a bill authorizing pharmacists to dispense them to patients without prescriptions.
• Widened access to prescription monitoring databases to limit addictive medications issued to high-risk patients.
• Secured increased funding for women’s health services.
• Fought to pass legislation protecting, and expanding, the services offered through the Affordable Care Act in New Jersey.
• Successfully sponsored legislation expanding access to telehealth services during, and beyond, the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Supported legislation that would provide healthcare to every child in the state.
• Sponsored legislation and passed legislation to make prescription drugs more affordable by administering prescription drug benefits through Medicaid.
• Increased funding for autism programs by successfully sponsoring legislation allowing taxpayers to make voluntary contributions to those programs on gross income tax returns.
• Addressed the state’s nursing shortage by sponsoring and passing legislation authorizing out-of-state certified nurses to practice in New Jersey.