Discounted Health Insurance Options Now Available to New Jersey Social Service Workers

More than 10,000 social service workers across New Jersey now have access to lower-cost health insurance.

UnitedHealthcare and the Social Services Purchasing Alliance (SSPA) are offering alliance members’ employees a 5-percent discount on New Jersey Small Employer health plans offered by UnitedHealthcare. Available options include traditional plans, health savings accounts (HSAs), health reimbursement accounts (HRAs), out-of-network options, preventive care and wellness programs.

Social service organizations eligible for the discounted health plans include more than 1,000 New Jersey facilities providing therapeutic, residential, educational and other services to the disadvantaged and to people with physical, mental and behavioral challenges and disabilities. UnitedHealthcare estimates that 10,000 social service workers and their families are eligible.

"Lowering the cost of health care for caregivers and others who work in state-funded social service agencies has long been an objective of New Jersey state government,” said Jennifer Velez, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

New Jersey law authorizes this type of arrangement based on expected marketing efficiencies that should lower the acquisition and retention costs associated with these insurance policies. UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, is one of the state’s health insurers, serving more than 1.3 million health plan customers through a health care provider network of 84 hospitals and more than 14,000 physicians. SSPA, an independent not-for-profit organization managed by its member social service providers, is a New Jersey coalition of more than 1,000 social service providers funded by the New Jersey Department of Human Services and Department of Children and Families.

"Social service workers provide needed, valuable services to the most vulnerable in our society; it’s important they have access to quality, cost-effective health care coverage ,” said Michael McGuire, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of New Jersey.

To qualify for the discounted coverage, an agency must join the Social Services Purchasing Alliance (SSPA). The VanPalmer Group, LLC, a New Jersey-based insurance brokerage firm, will administer the discount program.

About the Social Services Purchasing Alliance

The Social Services Purchasing Alliance (www.sspanj.org) is a nonprofit corporation founded by providers of social services for the purpose of securing bulk purchase contracts to benefit the nonprofit agencies who contract with the New Jersey Department of Human Services and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. Any of these not-for-profit community providers may join the SSPA.

About UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes, including more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of more than 26 million individual consumers, contracting directly with more than 580,000 physicians and care professionals and 4,900 hospitals to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.