AVALON – Business Administrator Scott Wahl briefed the council on the borough’s continued participation in the State Health Benefits Plan. Participation in the plan has been a controversial issue in state municipalities following a 21% increase in premiums in 2023, which led some towns, including nearby Ocean City, to exit the plan and find other options for providing health insurance benefits for employees.
Wahl said an earlier decision by the borough to accept a degree of self-insurance through the use of a health reimbursement arrangement helped the borough adjust to this year’s state increase by allowing the borough to move to a higher deductible state plan with no impact on the overall benefit offering to the employee. This was accomplished by adjusting the employee contribution to the health reimbursement arrangement to off-set the higher deductible. For Avalon this past year’s increase ended up at about 4%, what Wahl called a “manageable increase.”
Wahl said the borough would again opt for a high deductible plan within the state benefits program and adjust the health reimbursement arrangement accordingly. Wahl added that the borough had investigated the use of a Health Insurance Fund, a form of collective self-insurance for municipalities similar to the Joint Insurance Fund, and decided that the state plan plus the adjusted health reimbursement arrangement present a better option for employees and taxpayers.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.