‘Failed Program’

The 2010 law, which Christie opposed, offers people a system of health-care exchanges on which they can purchase insurance and expands the number of people eligible for Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor. Those with low incomes qualify for a subsidy, making the plans in many cases cheaper than other options.

“Because of the ACA, Atlantic City casino workers will have access to affordable, quality health insurance as they look for work,” U.S. Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, said in an e-mail. “They won’t have to face the frightening prospect of being one accident or illness away from financial ruin – a prospect they would have faced only a few years ago.”

Christie, a Republican who’s said he’s considering a run for president in 2016, has called Obamacare a “failed program,” and refused to establish a state-run exchange, leaving the task to the federal government. Yet in 2013 he agreed to expand the state’s Medicaid program, known locally as Family Care.

Visible Aid

Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Christie, declined to comment Sept. 15.

“I’m not going to invest further money in a failed federal program,” the governor told Collinsgru during an exchange at a town hall meeting in March.

During the job fair, people -- some in jackets and ties and others in cargo shorts and flip-flops -- navigated more than four dozen booths set up by prospective employers.

The state Labor Department, in addition to organizing the event, helped attendees file for unemployment benefits. UniteHere Local 54, the main casino-workers union, had more than 200 volunteers on hand in bright green t-shirts. Most had been dismissed themselves. They helped members sort through a maze of social-service programs, which include mortgage modification, utility assistance and food stamps.

Bob McDevitt, president of the union, didn’t return messages seeking comment on Obamacare.