The Bayonne school district faces as much as a $7 million increase in the health insurance premiums it pays for its employees.
Schools Business Administrator Clifford Doll said Horizon is raising the cost of the contract based on the fact that Bayonne Medical Center has decided not to renew contracts with nearly all of the major insurance providers.
“I have been on contac t with Bayonne Medical Center and they told me that this is a business decision,” Doll said.
BMC – under new management – decided last year not to offer discounted rates to some insurance carriers because the hospital received fewer revenues as a result of the discounted rate than the services actually cost to provide.
Although Doll said the actual increase to the district could be anywhere from $1 million to $7 million, the impact on the pending $117 million or more school budget will be significant.
In Bayonne, school employees do not pay for a portion of the basic premium, so taxpayers will have to pick up the whole tab unless the district can find an alternative.
School employees themselves will not have to pay more because Bayonne Medical Center is an out-of-network provider with Horizon – the carrier the Bayonne District currently has a contract with.