CWA District 1 Statement on SHBP Commission Rate Adoption Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2026
Press Contact: Rodrigo Brandao, Story Justice Communications
[email protected] | Cell: (917) 434-6168

CWA District 1 Statement on SHBP Commission Rate Adoption Meeting

TRENTON, N.J. — Billy Gallagher, Assistant to CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor, released the following statement after today's rate adoption meeting by the State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) Commission:

“Today's rate adoption meeting by the State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) Commission demonstrated what we have been saying for years: the SHBP needs significant structural change.

“Year after year, meeting after meeting, CWA and other labor unions have proposed significant reforms to bring down the cost of health care and address longstanding mismanagement of the SHBP. Today's meeting was no exception.

“However, despite the SHBC declining to move forward on our proposals today, we are pleased with the commitment from the Sherrill Administration to tackle the root causes of high healthcare costs and get to work on fixing the SHBP. By holding State workers harmless from an increase and committing to a framework to agree to real structural reforms, our members are finally having their concerns heard. This is an extremely positive and reassuring move by the Administration to take healthcare access and affordability seriously.

“Holding the line for State workers cannot be the extent of this work. There is still an enormous amount of work to do for local government workers, who are being crushed under sky-high premiums that eat up 15-20% of their paychecks — an unsustainable and unacceptable burden that has been allowed to fester for far too long. Every year of inaction on the Local Government SHBP is another year of unaffordable healthcare for dedicated public servants. Addressing this crisis must be a top priority in the coming months.

“This is just the beginning. There is a long road ahead to fixing the SHBP and delivering on its promise: high-quality, affordable healthcare for public employees of New Jersey. We look forward to continuing with the Administration to achieve that shared goal.”

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Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 1 represents more than 170,000 active and retired members across New York, New Jersey, and New England, including tens of thousands of public employees in New Jersey. CWA District 1 is a longstanding advocate for affordable, high-quality healthcare for public workers and retirees.