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. (This contractual limit is fortunate for us compared to some of the other plan increases.)
- 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 the news is better (or at least less bad) for those of you in the 2019 PPO or tiered network plans. 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 employee contribution increase.
Related: CRU town halls offer thorough explanation of what you should consider in deciding
