Murphy to reform public employee health plan in 'death spiral'

With health care premiums rising significantly in recent years for New Jersey's clerks, DPW workers and other local public employees, the state plan that administers medical insurance to hundreds of thousands is on "the brink of collapse" as many municipalities look for cheaper alternatives on their own.

Now Gov. Phil Murphy is offering a roadmap to restore the failing plan in the waning days of his administration. But public sector unions in the state blasted the proposal with one leader calling it a "non-starter."

Taxpayers would prop the plan up with $250 million in short term funding in exchange for long-term structural reforms through a bill that would need to be approved by the Legislature, Murphy announced at the League of Municipalities annual meeting in Atlantic City on Thur