Health Insurance Spike Avoided As Westfield Schools Eye Expenses

WESTFIELD, NJ — The Westfield Board of Education says it has avoided major insurance increases for the 2026-2027 school year, despite statewide projections showing health care premiums rising as much as 30 to 35 percent.

Finance and Facilities Committee member Kent Diamond said the district took a proactive approach to managing its self-insured health plans, with Business Administrator Patty Ramos and her team leading the effort.

“As you know, we’re self-insured, and the state’s insurance plans are calling for 30 to 35 percent increases for next year,” Diamond said. “So Patty shopped our medical, dental, and stop-loss insurance with our broker.”

The district will remain with Aetna for medical coverage. Officials said claims are expected to rise about 20 percent if current trends continue, but administrative fees were limited to a 5.5 percent increase.

Significant savings came from changes in stop-loss and dental coverage after the district solicited multiple bids from providers.

“Stop-loss was shopped out to over 15 vendors, with Blue Cross coming in with the lowest rate, which will actually be a reduction of 6 percent from this year’s expenses,” Diamond said.

For dental coverage, officials said roughly 10 quotes were reviewed before switching providers.

“For dental, the broker got about 10 quotes, and we are switching to Aetna dental with a savings of $150,000 for next year,” Diamond said.

Diamond credited the administration for navigating a difficult insurance market and limiting cost increases.

“Compared to the state’s insurance plan increase of 30 to 35 percent, it’s really a fabulous job that Patty and her team have done,” he said.