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Lower Township to exit state health plan, approves AmeriHealth for employee coverage
Summary
Lower Township council voted to terminate participation in the State Health Benefits Program and approved contracts naming AmeriHealth for employee coverage and Brave and Health for retiree prescriptions; officials cited steep multi-year premium increases and plan quote comparisons.
The Lower Township Council voted on Oct. 20 to terminate the township's participation in the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and to award new health and prescription coverage contracts to outside vendors.
Presiding official (speaker 2) told council members that SHBP premium rates have climbed sharply in recent years, saying, “2024 increased over 7%. 2025 increased over 16%. And for 2026, they wanna give us a 36.9% increase, which means over the course of the last 3 years, the price for the health care went up 60% in Lower Township.” The council was told the township must vote to terminate the SHBP by the end of October to pursue alternative plans.
The clerk introduced resolution 2025-3-55 to award a contract to AmeriHealth for township employee health insurance. Mr. Laffey (speaker 4), who described the procurement process, said the township's broker, Marsh McLennan, obtained multiple quotes. He said AmeriHealth represented the lowest-cost option received this year — about a 19% increase from current township costs — compared with other quotes he listed (Horizon about 26%, Aetna about 41%, and the SHBP projection near 36%). “EmeriHealth is the lesser of all evils, and it's, a better than or equal to plan when it comes to our union contracts,” Mr. Laffey said.
Council members moved and seconded the consent agenda including the termination resolution and the AmeriHealth contract; roll-call votes recorded affirmative votes from Council member Conrad, Council member Wareham, Council member Roy, the Deputy Mayor and the Mayor (all recorded as "Yes").
The council also approved resolution 2025-3-56 to award a contract to Brave and Health for prescription coverage for retired township employees. The clerk described the award as an extraordinary, unspecifiable service and the council approved it by the same roll-call vote pattern.
Mr. Laffey said the initial contracts will be for one year given volatility in the insurance market and that he plans to meet individually with union representatives (Teamsters, supervisors' union, PBA and others) over the coming weeks to discuss transition details and preserve negotiated benefits. No public comments were offered during the hearings on these resolutions.
The resolutions will take effect according to the contract timelines required to permit termination of SHBP and implementation of the new carriers; council discussion indicated staff will work with unions and the township broker on the transition and on communications to employees.
