Healthcare hikes — again

Good morning! Public workers have been among the most frequent folks who protest outside the Statehouse lately, with healthcare premiums under the state healthcare plan rising far faster than the rate of inflation.

Wednesday, they got another reason to rally, when the State Health Benefit Commission learned that double-digit increases are projected — again, after years of double-digit hikes. The commission is expected to vote on the matter in September.

An official with Communications Workers of America, the state’s largest public-sector union, blasted the proposed increases as “a failure to actively manage the plan.”

“The old playbook keeps shifting costs onto workers instead of taking on the hospitals and insurers driving these numbers. We have never accepted that and won’t start now,” said Rebecca Miller, CWA District 1’s legislative director.

Nikita Biryukov was at the meeting and has that story …

Healthcare costs: Via Nikita, “Premiums under New Jersey’s public worker health plans should rise by double digits, with current and former local government workers again poised to face the steepest increases, state officials learned Wednesday. Premiums for local government workers should increase by 17.3%, with a 15.1% increase for their counterparts in state government, actuaries from Aon told the State Health Benefit Commission Wednesday.”

Healthcare costs, part II: Via Nada Hassanein of Stateline, “Health insurance premiums are likely to grow more expensive next year for those who buy Marketplace plans, after increases this year. Affordable Care Act Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 14% for 2027, which would be a double-digit hike for the second year in a row, according to a new analysis of preliminary rate filings.”

Environmental education: Via me, “A state-owned environmental school that has long teetered on the brink of permanent closure as its state funding fell now has a brighter future, with lawmakers making it eligible for state preservation grants to cover its capital needs … ‘That is going to take a huge, huge, huge burden off of us, in terms of being able to operate our programs and fix the buildings,’ the school’s executive director Kerry Kirk Pflugh said. ‘It’s going to help us tremendously.’”

Maternal health: Via Lilo Stainton, “More than 2,000 people who were pregnant, recently gave birth or are part of the perinatal workforce benefited from a free ride to a healthcare appointment or social service agency in the Trenton area over the past six months, thanks to a government partnership that aims to boost maternal health outcomes. The rideshare program — which is now expanding to Hamilton and Ewing — is just one way the New Jersey Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority is looking to drive down the state’s above-average maternal mortality rate and reduce racial disparities that leave Black moms nearly seven times more likely to die than white moms in New Jersey, according to the latest state analysis.”

Housing v. parking: Via Robbie Sequeira of Stateline, “In recent years, housing shortages have prompted cities and states to scale back or even eliminate minimum parking requirements. The need to provide parking makes projects more expensive, raising costs for developers that they often pass on to residents. In some cases, the rules prevent projects from ever being built. Since 2019, at least 14 states have enacted 34 laws reducing or eliminating parking minimums, according to the Parking Reform Network, a coalition of groups that opposes minimums.”

Delaney Hall: Via Hannan Adely at The Record, “A Colombian immigrant who reported that he was raped at Delaney Hall was transferred to Mississippi two days later, further traumatizing him and hampering an investigation, according to his attorney and court filings.”