CRU Town Hall Meetings on Health Insurance Open Enrollment

Sign up to attend a town hall meeting about your health plan options:

Dear colleague,

The open enrollment period for the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) runs through the end of October; you can make changes to your health plan until October 31 (the changes will go into effect next January 1). The Coalition of Rutgers Unions (CRU) is holding town hall meetings for you to learn about your health insurance options so you can make decisions about whether you would like to switch plans.

You can use these updated calculators to see what your health insurance contribution from each paycheck would be under the different plans available:

Unfortunately, the NJ State Health Benefits Commission voted 3–2 in September to approve increased insurance premiums for next year—including double-digit increases for some plans. The two union representatives on the commission voted against the increases (for reasons we outline below), but all three state representatives appointed by the governor voted in favor.

Because of these increases, you may want to change your health plan during open enrollment this month. Union staff familiar with the SHBP, including AAUP-AFT Executive Director Patrick Nowlan, will be at the CRU town halls to explain the health plan changes and answer your questions, so please sign up now to attend.

How Much Are Employee Contributions Increasing on January 1, 2025?

Not all plans are going up by the same amount:

  • For Rutgers/NJIT/UHNJ employees in a Horizon NJ Direct/2019 and Aetna Freedom/2019 PPO plan, the increase in employee contributions is limited to 4.5 percent, under the terms of our union contracts—even though the total premium increases borne by the state are significantly higher (10.1 percent). So if your per-paycheck insurance contribution is $111 today, it will increase to $116 in 2025.
  • For Rutgers/NJIT/UHNJ employees in a Horizon Omnia or Aetna Liberty Plus tiered network plan, employee contributions will remain at 75 percent of the cost of the 2019 PPO plans above.
  • For Rutgers/NJIT/UHNJ Employees in all other plans, employee contributions will increase by 14.5 percent. Contributions for these plans are based on annual salary and premium, so unfortunately, the money deducted from each of your paychecks will go up by the full percentage increase borne by the state. Those plans include:
    • Horizon – Direct 15, Direct 1525, Direct 2030, Direct 2035, HMO plan, and the two high deductible plans
    • Aetna – Freedom 15, Freedom 1525, Freedom 2030, Freedom 2035, HMO plan, and the two high deductible plans

So those of you in the 2019 PPO or tiered network plans (or who switch into those plans) will have lower increases in employee contributions next year. But remember: these plans may have higher per-visit copays and other costs. You will need to decide whether those factors outweigh the benefit of a lower contribution increase. Another reason to come to the CRU town halls listed above and hear an explanation of what you should consider in deciding!

Again, you can use these updated calculators to see what your contribution taken from your pay would be under different plans:

Why Did the Premiums Go Up, and What Can We Do About It?

Since July, our unions have partnered with other public employee unions representing state and local government employees to oppose the premium increases proposed by the state’s actuarial consultant. Our union coalition made specific, data-driven proposals that would have cut the proposed premium increases by 25–50 percent, saving over $80 million for taxpayers, employers, and employees, without diminishing the quality of health care plans or shifting costs to employers or employees.

Using actual experience, Horizon’s estimates, and the record of other states, we proved that the state’s actuarial assumptions are flawed, inflated, and never questioned. What’s more, the state audits less than 20 percent of overall claims, so millions of dollars in overpayments and improper payments are never identified or recouped.

Our unions proposed improved governance and auditing to fix this, along with other proposals that would lower prices, create competition between Horizon and Aetna, and enforce the prices guaranteed by these insurance carriers. Sadly, the state rejected or ignored all of our proposals. As a result, public employees will have to pay unprecedentedly high premiums—especially those working in local government, where the increases are 16.3 percent, effective January 1.

We won’t wait around until the state proposes another rate increase next year. We will keep fighting for the ideas we put forward and others that have saved millions in other states. Unions have the best ideas for real health care reform to control costs, now and in the long term. We are fighting back against the total cost of coverage and the prices charged by insurance carriers, which must be controlled through cooperation between our unions and the state.

We hope you’ll join us when we take this fight to Trenton in the future. But for now, we urge you to attend a CRU Town Hall Meeting on Health Insurance so you can make a decision about your health plan before the open enrollment period ends on October 31:

In solidarity,
Rutgers AAUP-AFT and AAUP-BHSNJ

Rutgers AAUP-AFT Facebook page: https://facebook.com/RUaaup/
Follow us on Twitter @ruaaup and Instagram @rutgersaaup
Freedom School YouTubeChannel: https://rutgersaaup.org/YouTube

AAUP-BHSNJ website: https://aaupbhsnj.org/
AAUP-BHSNJ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RUaaupbhsnj