Victory in Our Fight for Affordable Healthcare in NJ — But the Fight Isn’t Over Yet

After months of tough bargaining with the State of New Jersey, CWA landed a major victory in our fight to make New Jersey more affordable for working people and slow the skyrocketing healthcare costs hitting our members and other public sector workers by successfully pushing back against huge proposed increases and cost-shifting in the State Health Benefits Plan for State workers. But the campaign is ongoing, and we will be using every tool at our disposal to address the crisis for Local Government workers.​

Background — State Health Benefits Plan premiums covering our 40,000 NJ State workers were projected to go up over 17% in 2026, causing a double-digit increase in our paycheck contributions — but thanks to our strong contract, the State is required to bargain with us to minimize the impact of these increases.

CWA went to the table determined to protect our membership from bearing the brunt of these increases, as well as the $100 million in cost-shifting mandated in the State’s 2026 budget, and got the State to agree to actual long and short-term cost-saving measures.

What we won:

• Overall Costs: No increase to member contributions for 2026, and protected current copays for Primary Care, Specialist, and Urgent Care office visits.
• Protecting In-Network Strength: Design changes will encourage use of the plan’s extensive in-network providers, preventing unnecessary out-of-network costs.
• Lower-Cost Surgery Options: The plan will steer appropriate procedures (including carpal tunnel surgery, colonoscopies, arthroscopies, and more) to high-quality ambulatory surgery centers, saving money while keeping quality of care high.
• Union Seat at the Table: A joint Union/State working group will create a roadmap for our legislators to tackle the real driver of rising costs: provider prices and lack of system oversight.
• Pharmacy Costs: The State will use a reverse auction to secure a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) contract, projected to save hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Vendor Report: An independent review will expand claims audits, identifying and recovering provider overpayments to save money for the plan without cutting benefits.

This is a huge victory for State workers covered by the State Health Benefits Plan and would not have happened without the hard work of our bargaining team and members who have stepped up to fight for affordable healthcare.

But the work isn’t over yet! While this deal is a crucial step for State workers, there’s still a vital need to address the core drivers of these continued healthcare cost increases — or risk being right back here again next year. This agreement also doesn’t address the out-of-control cost increases for our members working in Local Government. Over the next few months, CWA is fighting hard to get the State to agree to a proposal to mitigate some of the increased costs for local government workers. CWA’s campaign is still ongoing on multiple fronts, most notably in our effort to pass statewide legislation (A5903) to address both costs and government transparency in rate-setting.