A state health board on Wednesday approved rate increase of more than 20% for state and local government health plans.
on Thursday said he doesn’t want big health insurance premium increases for public workers to “become an annual event” and called a last-minute move to ease a bit of the pain for some of those workers “a fair deal.”for health plans that cover more than 800,000 public workers. The vote calls for boosts in premiums on state health plans by about 21%, and local government plans by nearly 24%.
As part of the compromise, state employee co-pays for specialists will double from $15 to $30 and co-pays for urgent care will increase from $15 to $45. Murphy on Thursday said he looked forward to working with local governments and union leadership that represents local employees, but added that his administration will need help to find a solution.
Senate Republican leader Steven Oroho, R-Sussex, and Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, on Thursday blasted the Murphy administration’s “secretive” move to raise premiums, as well as only finding relief for state workers.