SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Dozens of cities and towns have left the New Jersey State Employee Health Benefits Program. Camden, Trenton and Newark have already done so and are saving millions on health premiums, and Atlantic City is next.
These towns and cities saw a 24% premium rate hike for this year. County and municipal governments were hit with that steep jump, though most state workers only saw a small premium increase.
According to New Jersey Association of Counties Executive Director John Donnadio, towns that remain on the plan are at risk of prices rising even more — when lots of healthy people leave, he said, places with higher utilization rates will suffer the most.
“It’s just going to drive up the expense of that program even more so. It’s an alarming trend,” he said.
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The New Jersey Association of Counties has been working on creating a fund that towns and municipalities can opt into, saving them money through increased buying power — something Donnadio said should have been done by the governor.
“They are concerned about the long-term health of the State Employee Health Benefits Program and that the increase is not just a one-year increase,” he said.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s office has said it remains committed to working with partners in government and labor toward the shared goal of providing high-quality, affordable health care for government employees.
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