Steve Sweeney
The so-called "Norcross Clause" has bit the dust. It was section 76 of the pension and benefits reform proposal that would bar public employees from getting out-of-state hospital treatment unless they paid for it out of pocket. Sweeney and Speaker Sheila Oliver said this morning they will move separate legislation to repeal the language in Section 76. It will be replaced by language that would direct "the new health care boards to create insurance plans that would specifically include only in-Jersey providers and other plans that would include coverage for out-of-state treatment." Employees can choose which want they want. Subscribers to the in-state plan could seek out-of-state treatment if their doctor certified that no qualified treatment could be had in New Jersey.
After the proposal was introduced last week, it hit the fan big time.
Senate President Steve Sweeney's people say the idea was to save New Jersey hospitals, although the hospitals' association said it never requested it. Health analysts said the proposal would not save money, it would have the opposite effect because it would lessen competition. Bill Lavin, president of the state Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, sees a more sinister plot. He thinks it's about helping Sweeney friend George Norcross, the South Jersey Democratic Party boss. Norcross is chairman of the board of Cooper Hospital in Camden which has been doing a lot of advertising to compete with Jefferson and Penn and other hospitals with national reputations in Philadelphia. Because of that, state insiders jokingly called it the "Norcross Clause".Assemblywomen Nellie Pou and Bonnie Watson Coleman said they want the clause removed. Sen. Dick Codey said, "This is dead wrong, dead wrong."
Earlier, another Sweeney provision would have put a moratorium on school districts and local governments joining the state health plan. Under a moratorium they would have to shop for it through insurance brokers, which is what Norcross is. After a mountain of criticism erupted when the New York Times wrote about it, that provision was dropped.
