Concerned Citizens of Montclair: Now Concerned About Benefits

Tonight's Town Council Meeting includes as item 12. "Resolution to terminate participation under the State Health Benefits Program".  The detailed resolution indicates they are proposing to move out of the State's plan for Medical, Prescription Drug and/or Dental Plan. 

There has been no analysis of savings to be obtained or discussion of opening this up to multiple bidders. Only one broker has been discussed, IMAC, (see link below). Various articles report that towns can save millions on using the State Benefit Plans where no commissions are taken versus private brokerage firms (links also provided below).  
Based on the most recent information obtained by CCM, the town spends approximately $5.6 million annually on total coverage for its 400 municipal employees including Health ($4.3M), Dental ($400k), Prescription ($700k), and Vision ($200k) Plans. The State Plan has approximately 14 options for types of coverage. The Town Council should not only open this up to multiple bids, but also review the various plans carried under the State. This should be a transparent process and analysis of the savings should be provided, including full transparency of any commissions being paid.

CCM encourages you to write or call you Ward Town Councilor or the Mayor and ask for a full transparent analysis of the change and the reported savings to be obtained.  

See the following links for full reports on savings obtained through the State Health Plan:The NJ Insurance Journal reports: "N.J. Audit Finds State Health Plan Cheaper for Towns" reports, "New Jersey counties and towns are wasting millions  of dollars on health insurance brokers and premiums when switching to the state’s plan would be cheaper, a new audit has found."

Per the NJ Spotlight, "Watchdogs Target Insurance Brokers Cashing In On Lucrative Government Work" "Comptroller Boxer's report, coming on the heels of the Citizens Campaign's Best Price Insurance initiative, has put New Jersey's multibillion-dollar government insurance industry on the defensive for the second time in nine months, not only by laying out the potential tax savings, but also by shining a spotlight on the underlying political connections that too often go unnoticed and unreported."

Per Star Ledger, "Bring transparency to N.J.'s municipal insurance contracting process":  "New Jersey municipalities, counties and school districts have the potential to save more than $200 million a year if they adopt transparent competitive procedures for the selection of brokers and insurance policies — procedures the Citizens Campaign recommends in a model ordinance it has written for local governments."

Per reports on Baristanet, the Town Council is proposing to outsource this to a company called IMAC.