As reported by nj.com, the state’s largest public employee union said State Senate President Stephen Sweeney has released misleading information about how his health benefit overhaul will affect the pocketbooks of workers.

Sweeney wants to shift more of the costs of health benefits onto public workers. All state and local public employees would pay a percentage of their health care premiums in a tiered system based on their salary. The proposal would be phased in over four years. To support the proposal, Sweeney released a four-page chart that breaks down how the proposal would affect workers at various wage levels. The problem with the chart, according to Hetty Rosenstein, head of the Communications Workers of America, is that the chart assumes that premiums will remain flat at a time when they are increasingly rapidly.

As premiums rise, so will the amount public workers pay under the Sweeney proposal. But that is not reflected in the chart, Rosenstein says. “Sweeney assumes that health care costs will not go up a single dollar over four year, a deeply unrealistic claim that is all the more ironic given that his plan does nothing at all to implement cost containment strategies we know can save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” Rosenstein said.

For example, Sweeney’s chart claims that in the final year of his plan, a senior, professional employee making $70,000 would pay $4,180 in out of pocket costs for family coverage. But that figure presumes no increase in the cost of healthcare for the next four years.  If healthcare premiums rise six percent a year, the same worker making $70,000 per year would actually pay $5,277 a year, Rosenstein says.

“New Jersey’s public worker unions offered Governor Christie a proposal at the bargaining table that would save New Jersey hundreds of millions of dollars, by shifting some costs onto workers-but also taking common sense steps that dozens of other states have shown can slow the rising costs of healthcare,” Rosenstein said.

Derek Roseman, a spokesman for Senate Democrats, said while the chart does not take into account rising premiums, it also doesn’t reflect that workers will be able to choose from a host of different plans. “Workers can adjust plans based on their own financial situation,” said Roseman.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
DONALD C. BARBATI, JR.

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault.  In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.