Essex County, N.J. votes to leave state health plan, hires 5 vendors

Follow-up to our Oct. 21 report: “Essex County, N.J. to vote on leaving state health plan; no cost study.”

Essex County, N.J., commissioners voted Wednesday night, Oct. 21, to take county workers and retirees out of the State Health Benefits Plan on Jan. 1, 2027, and to pay their health claims with county money instead. In the same roll call they hired five companies to run the new plan, in an agenda item that was not on the agenda the county posted Oct. 16 and that lists no dollar amount.

Essex County did not respond to the questions Jersey Intel emailed on Tuesday, Oct. 20, by the noon Wednesday deadline. No county official or commissioner had answered them as of Thursday morning, Oct. 22.

The votes

The board took two votes, according to the county’s own meeting video.

First, after a public hearing at which no one spoke, it adopted Ordinance O-2026-00013 on second reading. The ordinance adds county self-funded health benefits to the county’s 1993 insurance-fund ordinance. Commissioner Wayne L. Richardson moved it and Vice President A’Dorian Murray-Thomas seconded. Commissioners Patricia Sebold, Richardson, Leonard M. Luciano and Brendan W. Gill, Murray-Thomas and President Carlos M. Pomares voted yes. Commissioners Romaine Sermons, Robert Mercado and Tyshammie L. Cooper were absent for that roll call.

Then the board took up resolution K-1, which ends the county’s participation in the State Health Benefits Plan for active and retired employees effective Jan. 1, 2027, together with item K-50. Sebold moved both and Luciano seconded. Gill, Luciano, Richardson, Sebold, Murray-Thomas and Pomares voted yes. Cooper, who had arrived by then, answered “present, not voting.” Mercado and Sermons were absent.

County Counsel Jerome M. St. John told the board the state supplies “a form resolution that cannot be changed” for leaving the plan, and that the county wants the termination in place so its new system can start Jan. 1, 2027.

Five vendors, no dollar figure

Item K-50 awards “extraordinary unspecifiable service” contracts, a category that state law exempts from public bidding, to five companies:

• Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, as the medical plan’s third-party administrator
• Express Scripts, as pharmacy benefits manager
• Aetna, as the Medicare Advantage carrier
• AI Technologies LLC, doing business as Apprize Technology, as benefits administrator
• Sun Life, as the stop-loss insurer, which covers claims above a set limit

The agenda the county posted on Oct. 16 ends at item K-44 and does not include K-50. The item appears on the version marked “Last Updated 10/21/2026 3:17:08 PM,” less than two hours before the 5 p.m. meeting. Jersey Intel could not determine whether it was added in that update or in an earlier one after Oct. 16. The K-50 listing names the five companies but gives no contract amount or term. Representatives of the firm Conner Strong answered commissioners’ questions about the contracts at the meeting.

The $11 million figure

Asked by Richardson what the county and its workers would save, a county official told the board that “the county as a whole will save $11 million.” The official said the county’s projected cost increase would be about 7% to 8%, compared with an average increase of about 17% to 18% in the state plan.

No document supporting that figure was posted with the agenda. On Oct. 20, the Board of Commissioners’ office told Jersey Intel in writing, in response to a records request, that it had no records responsive to our request for an actuarial analysis, feasibility study or cost comparison.

What union representatives said

During public comment before the votes, a union representative told the board the union had filed a grievance on Oct. 6 protesting that two wellness programs available in the state plan will not be part of the county’s self-insured plan, and said the contracts “were put on the agenda late.” The president of the Public Employee Supervisors Union said the union’s contract calls for a joint union-management committee to study health costs and recommend programs. “This did not happen,” she said.

The county did not respond

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Jersey Intel emailed six questions to County Administrator Robert D. Jackson, with copies to Public Information Director Anthony Puglisi, County Counsel Jerome M. St. John and Deputy Clerk of the Board Kathy Brown. We asked what savings the county projects and whether an actuarial or cost study exists; who would administer claims and provide stop-loss coverage, and how those firms were chosen; whether retirees’ benefits would change; whether unions were consulted; what reserves the county would set aside for high-cost claims; and whether plan details would be presented to commissioners before the vote. Jersey Intel also asked all nine commissioners for comment.

The deadline was noon on Wednesday, Oct. 21. None of them responded by the deadline. After the deadline, Puglisi referred the questions to Jackson. As of Thursday morning, Oct. 22, Jersey Intel had received no answers from Jackson, St. John, Puglisi, Brown or any commissioner. This story will be updated with any response.

Our records requests

After the Board of Commissioners’ office said some records may be held by other county offices, Jersey Intel filed follow-up requests under the Open Public Records Act on Oct. 21 with the county’s Purchasing office (No. 18158) and its Accounts & Control office (No. 18159). The county acknowledged both the same day. Responses are due Oct. 30.

Send us what you know

If you work for or retired from Essex County and have received notice about your 2027 coverage, or have documents about the cost of the new plan or the K-50 contracts, email jerseyintel@gmail.com.