Place Blame On Middletown For $31,000 Per Employee Cost Of Township's Self-Insured Health Care Plan, Not Obamacare

Middletown's former mayor and current Township Committeeman Tony Fiore, never let's his ego get in the way of the truth, he has a  hedonistic desire that he can't often control. He needs to let people know exactly how much they don't know by showing them exactly how much he doesn't. Whether it is from the dais, rolling his eyes, sighing with contempt and talking down to people when confronted with facts or a difference of opinion other than his own or using social media to disparage others who he disagrees with, the arrogant, ignorant bulldog in his personality always seems to come out.

Case in point. Last week when the Asbury Park Press announced that Middletown  reduced the hours of 25 part-time employees in an attempt to avoid having to provide health coverage for them under the terms of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) when the employer mandate kicks in sometime in 2015, Fiore felt compelled to leave a comment on the APP's website. In defending the reduction in hours and the extremely high $31,000 per employee cost of the Township's self-insured health care plan, Fiore has placed blame on President Obama for the Township's own mismanagement of its health care plan.

After reading Tony Fiore's comment left on the APP, Township Committee candidate Linda Baum sent me a note wanting to refute his statement and asked me to post:

Fiore's statement is totally inaccurate. Per research, Middletown's cost for medical benefits has risen 50% in the last decade, and its cost for prescription benefits has risen 100% in that time. Rising costs long pre-date the Affordable Care Act and have risen steadily during Fiore's term in office. Failure to address this issue falls squarely on the shoulders' of our local government. Our current mayor, Gerry Scharfenberger has been in office since Jan. 2005 and has had ample time to address this issue. Former Committeeman Sean Byrnes (D) had suggested forming a task force of medical and insurance professionals to review the Township's rising health care costs, but the administration's majority would have none of it. On top of that, they aren't telling us who is enrolled for coverage, one of the many things that needs review to get costs under control.

Oh and BTW, Middletown doesn't pay premiums, as Fiore says in his comment. The Township is self insured for health coverage -- it pays claims, not premiums. If Fiore doesn't understand the difference, how great a handle can he have on any of this?