“You’ll hear a lot about the technical aspects of this bill, but I want to make clear that it’s about getting 800,000 public workers, and their families, decent health insurance with premiums they can afford, and doing it without taking more money from the taxpayer to pay for it,” said Assemblyman Verrelli (D-Mercer, Hunterdon). “I won’t mince words; this is a serious and heavy lift. Our goal with this bill is to provide transparency and accountability, so that workers who have dedicated their careers to public service can afford health benefits for their families, and the taxpayer can also benefit from these structural reforms and savings. Our essential public workers are the foundation of our communities—they include police, firefighters, and caregivers. Every single one of these workers deserves fairness, and I’m proud to put forth a serious proposal to take on these escalating health care costs that are plaguing our workforce and our taxpayers.”

Bill A5903 would take a multi-pronged approach to breaking the decision-making gridlock that has long stalled reforms that could lower costs. The new legislation follows a State Treasury report released in May, which found the SHBP for Local Government to be “financially unsustainable” and in a “death spiral.” The report identified key reforms needed to ensure stability, and A5903 would fulfill many of those recommendations.

Bill A5903 would increase transparency, eliminate the inability of the State Health Benefits Commission (SHBC) to make changes to bring costs under control, and permanently keep costs in line with inflation.

The legislation would eliminate the Plan Design Committee, transferring its duties to the SHBC, which would be expanded from five to eleven members. Composed of five state/employer representatives, five union/employee representatives, and one chairperson appointed by the Governor, the Commission would have access to all necessary information, including claims data, reimbursement rates, and contract documents, allowing them to make better informed decisions while staying within the newly structured 60-day resolution system.

The bill would consolidate health plan choices for local governments to five, simplifying employee choices and eliminating the costly administrative overhead that maintains dozens of plans with little usage. The bill would create a new plan, known as GOLD, which would be cost-free to participants.

Streamlining plan choices would also help manage premium costs, as the SHBC would be required to monitor the costs of the five plans and compare them to local, state, and national healthcare trends.

The bill would also require the SHBC to take action to reduce health care costs whenever those cost increases are higher than medical or prescription drug inflation.