Starting in January 2022, the district announced two changes to our benefits.
Self-Insured: As you may have noticed on your benefits cards, while the district will still be using Aetna to administer our health benefits, they have moved from a “Fully Insured” to a “Self-Insured” program. What does this mean exactly? With a fully-insured health plan, the employer pays a premium to a health insurance company. In return, the insurance company covers the costs of the employees’ healthcare. With a fully-insured plan, there is no additional risk to the employer. In a self-insured plan, the employer directly pays the health claims of the employees as they occur. This change should not have any direct or noticeable impact on the members or their dependents, but as always, the NTU will be monitoring the situation.
Express Scripts: The district has also announced they will be moving their prescription plan from Aetna to Express Scripts. Our contract says that when a provider change is to occur, a joint committee is formed to review these changes and make recommendations. This did not happen, so we have already moved forward on a grievance challenging the legalities of this change.
For now, you can access your ID Cards through the Express Scripts website https://www.expressscripts.com/ or the Express Scripts App. Because of HIPAA rules, you and each adult dependent on your benefits will have to create their own log in to access their order history. We posted more information on our website: http://newark.nj.aft.org/express-scripts
During this time of transition, if you have any issues with your benefits, reach out to the NBOE Benefits office at 973-733-7336 or email at benefits@nps.k12.nj.us