NJ Watchdog: NJ debt nears $200 billion for benefits

By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog

Guard your wallets, New Jersey taxpayers! The deficit in state pension and health benefit plans for public employees is fast approaching $200 billion.

The unfunded liabilities have reached a staggering $194.5 billion, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of State Treasury records. The shortfall has increased by $19 billion – or roughly 10 percent – in the past year.

Here’s a breakdown of bad news that seems certain to result in higher taxes, decreased retiree benefits or both:

• New Jersey’s public pensions are underfunded by $113.1 billion. The state bears $80.5 billion of that burden. Local governments are responsible for the remaining $32.6 billion.
• State and local governments are also on the hook for $81.4 billion in unfunded health benefits for retired and active workers. The state owes $65 billion; the local share is $16.4 billion.
• The total shortfall is $194.5 billion – more than $60,000 per household. The figure is nearly six times higher than New Jersey’s total annual budget, currently $33.8 billion.
• At the present pace, those unfunded liabilities will exceed $210 billion next year.

“The situation is not only getting worse, but is fast approaching a point at which it will be beyond remedy,” warned the governor’s bi-partisan, blue-ribbon Pension and Health Benefit Study Commission in a report released in February.

The complete story is online at http://watchdog.org/237832/nj-benefit-debt-200b/.

UPDATE: Brewer v. Middletown: Township Gives Insurance Info To Resident

Last week Middletown released the names of those covered under its self-insured medical plan to resident Lee Brewer. Brewer had requested the names from the township  last July but had to take Middletown to court to have the names of all those covered by the townships medical plan from 2008 through July 2013 released to him.

I reached out to him and asked if there were any names that stood out that he would be comfortable to share with me. He stated that he was still going over the list of names that the township provided but was ready to release anything at the moment. Brewer told me that the lists provided were very basic and were not broken down into years in which an employee participated. The lists only contain the employee names and what type of plan that they are participating in or have participated in (Single, Family, Employee & Spouse...). And there is no reference as to whether or not any of the names provided are current or former employees.  Brewer therefore has some additional work that he needs to do in order to cross reference names to job titles held before he can make any announcements.

I was told one name did standout however and it was Municipal Court Judge Richard Thompson, who has been covered under Middletown's health coverage plan as a "Single" receiver of benefits.

I'm curious what other names will pop up.

Brewer v. Middletown: Township Gives Insurance Info To Resident

According to this morning's Asbury Park Press, Middletown Township handed over to resident Lee Brewer the information that he requested back in July regarding the names of those covered under the Township's self-insured medical plan. In order to get the names of those covered by the township, Brewer had to take Middletown to court for not releasing the information to him when he requested it through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request last year.

MIDDLETOWN — Township officials decided not to appeal a judge’s ruling ordering the town to hand over basic information about town employees coverage by taxpayer-supported health insurance benefits. Resident and plaintiff Lee Brewer received that information Thursday, attorneys said.

Brewer likely will use the 15 pages of emailed information to determine if there are employees who aren’t entitled to municipal health coverage, said Walter Luers, Brewer’s attorney and president of the New Jersey Foundation of Open Government.

“He will probably read it and see if anyone is getting benefits who shouldn’t,” Luers said.

A Jan. 7 ruling by state Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson said the township had to turn over the information, which officials had denied to Brewer, fearing that doing so would violate the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Read more

I sent an email to Brewer earlier asking him if he had had time to go over the documents that the township had sent him and I have not heard from him as of yet. If I do hear from him I'll pass along what I find out regardless of whether or not any inappropriate names appear on the documents provided.

Honestly, I'm hoping that Brewer doesn't find anyone's name on the documents provided that shouldn't be there. I'll be very disappointed to find out that my tax dollars are going to provide health coverage to some lobbyist, lawyer or contractor that has no right to receive them. 

If that turns out to be the case then there will be holly hell to pay to someone.

Brewer v. Middletown: Township Will Comply and Release Benefits Records

According to this weeks Independent, Middletown has decided to comply with Judge Lawson's ruling in the case of Brewer v. Middletown and release the names of all those who receive health benefits from the township.

Interestingly enough, Middletown's attorney Brian Nelson is somehow blaming Middletown Democrats and former Township Committee Candidate Linda Baum for the township's need to release names of those covered under its self-insured medical plan.  Also Lee Brewer, the man that filed the suit to release the names of those cover will be seeking to recover his legal expenses from the township that are associated from the case. Brian Nelson seems the think that the Township doesn't need to comply with the request however.

Here is what the Independent has to say:

Middletown Township will comply with a court order and release the names of current and former employees who received medical benefits through the township dating back to 2008, according to Township Attorney Brian Nelson.

Nelson confirmed on Monday that Middletown will not appeal an order from state Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson mandating that the names be provided to township resident Lee Brewer, who requested a comprehensive list of township benefits records in July.

According to court records, Brewer’s request was part of a quest to seek out “potential fraud” in the township’s health care enrollment system.


While the township provided Brewer with much of the information he requested, the names of the enrollees were redacted. Township officials said divulging that information could allow specific claims information for employees to be made public, which would violate the privacy laws mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Because Middletown is self-insured, the township is a “covered entity” under HIPAA and subject to significant fines and penalties for any violations, Nelson said.

“We have given out — I can’t even count how many — dozens of documents over a period of years in relation to the township’s health benefits plan,” he said on Jan. 23. “The names have been redacted to protect those individuals and their private health information.”

Nelson said other township residents, specifically former Democratic Township Committee candidate Linda Baum, have requested and been provided with a significant amount of benefits records in recent years, only with the enrollee names redacted.

Releasing the names now could allow members of the public to piece those records together and determine claims information for specific employees, he said.

Walter Luers, the attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Brewer, said the township is simply trying to justify blocking the records, and that there is no danger of claims data being made public.

“It’s just something that they are throwing out there,” Luers said on Jan. 24. “If Middletown has released claims data that they shouldn’t have released, they should be making some sort of effort to correct it, to get it back somehow. But they’re not.”

He said the township had verbally argued about the claims data in court, but didn’t reference it in any official briefings.

“It’s like me saying the sky is purple,” Luers added. “Just saying it doesn’t make it true.” In his decision, Lawson wrote that Middletown “failed to identify any concrete example of a past disclosure which could, in conjunction with the present request, bring about such a harm.”

The township had also argued against a state “common law” right of access precedent, which found that certain insurance records must be publicly accessible.

Middletown argued that the federal “privacy rule” under HIPAA and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) trumps state law. Lawson, however, ruled that the township failed to identify just which HIPAA and ERISA regulations prevented the release of the employee names.

While disagreeing with Lawson’s decision, Nelson said the township would now comply with Brewer’s records request. Because the township is only releasing the names under a court order, it should be protected from any potential litigation that arises as a result of the disclosure, he added.

“The township believes that — given that there is a judge’s order — it will be protected from any type of [legal] claims,” he said.

The records would have to be released within 20 days of Lawson’s final order, but Nelson said they would likely be provided sooner.

On Jan. 24, Luers said Brewer may also seek to recoup his legal expenses from the township, to the tune of approximately $5,000.

Nelson said Brewer would not be entitled to such a reimbursement because the records in question are not protected under the state’s Open Public Records Act.

“We will fight that, and we will win that,” he said.

Middletown’s health insurance program has been a subject of scrutiny for years, as Democrats have accused the all-Republican Township Committee of intentionally obscuring the identities of its beneficiaries.

Brewer v. Middletown: Court orders Middletown to release employees' personal health insurance information

Middletown has long declined to reveal the names of those enrolled for township health benefits, while many other towns as well as Monmouth County, have taken the position that the information is public. NJ Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson in last week's ruling, established that the info is indeed public and is applicably to all of Monmouth County.

This ruling is a clear victory for open government advocates and those that have been calling for Middletown to be more forth coming and transparent  in disclosing information that residents and tax payers have a right to know.

From the Asbury Park Press:

MIDDLETOWN — A state Superior Court judge has ruled that a township man is entitled to public records showing which township employees receive taxpayer-funded health care coverage after officials denied a request for the documents.

Judge Lawrence M. Lawson ruled that the township, which provides a group health plan to its employees, must disclose the names of employees who are enrolled, the type of coverage elected by each employee and the annual cost of coverage for each type of election, under common law access rights.

Township officials plan to discuss whether to appeal Lawson’s Jan. 7 ruling or comply with it at the Township Committee’s Jan. 21 meeting, Township Attorney Brian Nelson said.

Township officials are concerned with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which can carry substantial fines for violations such as revealing an employee’s personal information, Nelson said.

“We fear an employee could file a complaint with the federal government, which has significant penalties if we release information,” Nelson said. “The problem here is we have have a series of (records) requests where people could put the information together and figure out the claims data.”

However, Walter Luers, president of the New Jersey Foundation of Open Government and attorney for resident Lee Brewer, who filed the suit, disagreed that the requested information would put the township in jeopardy of violating HIPAA. Luers said he was confident the decision would be upheld if appealed. The suit was filed in July.

“It’s exactly what we wanted,” Luers said of the decision. “In (public records) cases like this, once the trial judge makes a decision, it’s usually affirmed on appeal. Judge Lawson’s decision is pretty firm.”

Brewer, of Crawford Road, made a request July 5 under the Open Public Records Act and common law for the names of everyone, including employees, retirees and appointees, who were enrolled for health coverage with Middletown Township since Jan. 1, 2008, according to the lawsuit. Brewer also had asked to be informed about whether the coverage was for a single person or for additional family members, and the cost of the insurance to the township, according to the lawsuit.

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