Township Commission Disagrees on Health Insurer

Haddon Township commissioner Ryan Linhart publicly disagreed Tuesday with mayor Randall Teague and commissioner James Mulroy over authorizing the town's participation in the Southern New Jersey Regional Employee Benefit Fund, to cover 93 employees' health benefits going forward into 2024.

The disagreement arose during the commission's short meeting, when Linhart made a motion to table a resolution that would bring the health insurance under what is popularly known as the Health Insurance Fund's (HIF) umbrella, scheduled to be voted on that evening after being removed from the September agenda.

Teague's first attempt to quash Linhart's objection centered on timing and deadlines, saying "we have to move on this tonight or we won't have coverage." Linhart countered with, "no, that's not correct, we have continued coverage with (our current third-party claims administrator) Insurance Design Administrators (I.D.A.)." Teague then asked Linhart why he wanted to table the resolution, and Linhart responded, "to allow for a multi-year analysis. I find it unnecessary and pre-emptive to commit to joining the HIF at this time."

Linhart, the most recent addition to the governing body alongside long-serving Mulroy and Teague, later said he was the commissioner liaison in charge of reviewing insurance coverage pricing and plan details, as the town's director of finance. His professional expertise is in finance; Mulroy and Teague are both attorneys. During the trio's unopposed re-election campaign, Linhart had said he loved serving as commissioner because "every bit of government involves finances. I like to be able to identify savings because every little bit of savings helps."

To this disagreement, he affirmed Tuesday, "there looked like there were some savings to be had if we were to stay with our current arrangement."

Teague noted the town had self-insured for years, utilizing the insurance firm Conner Strong Buckalew as brokers and IDA as the third-party claims administrator. Conner Strong originated the HIF decades ago, which Linhart later said he viewed as a conflict of interest.

"I'm not against the HIF, I just don't think it will work for us," said the commissioner. "Smaller towns, maybe yes. The issue with the HIF is, we won't have the same autonomy. In those good years (when we're not paying out a lot of claims), we won't ourselves be able to see the full benefit of being able to control (that cash) ourselves, keeping that good revenue on the side, and keeping it for the rainy days," he explained.

Linhart said he had referred to the town's most recent audit (of 2021's operations) to form his opinion. The 2022 audit is due to be released within the next few weeks. In 2021, the town budgeted $1.25 million for health insurance claims and ended up paying out approximately $900,000, according to the audit, leaving the balance available to apply to other town needs.

"This at base is a finance question. I want to know what our annuals are as it pertains to finance. When I make financial decisions, I look at it long-term, five-ten years out, because you can get a better average in that regard." Asked if Conner Strong had provided a multi-year analysis for the commission to consider, Linhart replied it had not. Accordingly, he added, "we don't really know the implications of a bad year."

The resolution is unspecific as to the term the town is agreeing to join the HIF; dates were not filled in on blanks provided for that purpose, though Teague said, "we can opt out at any time."

Mulroy seconded Linhart's motion to table the resolution "just to get it to a vote," which was defeated 2-1. The commissioner then split the remaining resolutions into a consent agenda, leaving out the HIF resolution, to which Linhart voted no when it came up for a vote individually.

Caught on his way out the door to attend the ill-fated Phillies' NLCS Game 7, Teague quickly ticked off four reasons why he was in favor of dumping the old self-insurance method in favor of joining the HIF.

"I just think it's a better program than we currently have. I'm concerned about the self-insured program because of the risk exposure the township has, as evidenced by roughly $500,000 we were over budget last year by the claims; I don't think the network of providers is as good as it was in the past; the claims processing isn't as good, according to some of the employees I've been speaking with, they're not happy with the claims process; and finally, the employees have had trouble finding dental, eye and vision providers who will accept the insurance we currently have."