As reported by nj.com, two state panels approved higher rates for health insurance plans today, raising premium rates for coverage of all state employees, municipal workers, and public school teachers and staff. These new, higher rates for health insurance plans, mean the state will pay more for benefits and so will approximately 850,000 workers who are being asked to pay an increased cost of those benefits.

Today’s votes mark the next step in a statewide shift to make public employees pay a larger share of their healthcare. Rates for 2012 health insurance plans will rise by an average of 9 percent for active state employees, and by 3 percent for retirees, witnesses told the state health benefits commission today. For Medicare-eligible retirees, rates will be frozen at this year’s rate. Health plan rates for municipal employees grow an average of 10.3 percent. Early retirees increase 10.5 percent and Medicare-eligible retirees see a 2 percent change. 

The state commission in charge of reviewing health plan rates for school board employees have approved the following rate raises: for current teachers and all school administrative staff, plan rates rise by 10.1 percent in 2012. Rates for early retirees, who retire before the age of 65, rise by 6.5 percent. Medicare-eligible retirees see their rates freeze at 2011 levels.

The state hopes to offer 15 health plans in 2012, compared with three choices for state and local employees last year. Governor Chris Christie ordered that expansion as part of his successful change to public pension and benefits laws. Officials anticipate saving $10 million this year, a savings which they said Tuesday reflected “limited” enrollment in the new, cheaper plans by public employees.

Treasury officials announced last week that the state would also take up $90 million in federal dollars to pay towards retiree prescription costs, available as a result of federal healthcare reform proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress. The timing of that program’s availability this year is coincidental, and unrelated to Christie’s reforms.

Tags: Articles, benefit reform, Christie, healthcare benefits reform, healthcare overhaul, healthcare rates, healthcare reform
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

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.

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