Mayor: Walk-in clinics could shave health-care costs for twp.
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Township officials are considering setting up walk-in health clinics that would make it easier for employees to take care of minor illnesses and cut health costs at the same time.

The clinics would be available not only to township employees, but to employees of the Board of Education and the Municipal Utilities Authority as well, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis said.

"We want to do shared services with the Board of Ed and theMUA," the mayor said.

The program, which would be the first in the state, would be available to a total of roughly 2,300 employees, Acropolis said.

"Nobody in the state does it right now," he said. "We are pretty fired up about it."

The clinics could be placed in existing buildings- one on the north side of town and one on the south side - and would be run by an outside contractor. Nurse practitioners would be on-site to see patients and dispense prescriptions, Acropolis said.

"I know me personally, I am not going to go to the doctor if it's going to take too long," he said. "It saves the township money. It's a walk-in, walk-out deal. You can just walk in."

Acropolis and other township officials have been meeting withMarathon Health representatives to discuss how to run the clinics, which could be up and running as early as September, he said.

"We hope to have them done, the contracts signed to start the process sometime over the next few months," Acropolis said.

The cost for an office visit would run around $40, far lower than a routine visit in a private physician's office, he said.

"This is outside-the-box thinking, bringing a business acumen to municipal government," Acropolis said. "Next year, I can see us going self-insured."

Marathon Health is a corporate health services company designed to improve the quality of health at reduced costs, according to the company's Web site.

The clinics would focus on minor illnesses, health screenings and disease management, Acropolis said.

"We want to try and head off things before they become major problems," the mayor said. "The benefit to the employees is that they get more services."

Brick is facing a 13 percent increase, or a roughly $818,100 hike in premium costs this year with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the township's insurance carrier. That amount only covers medical premiums, not dental or eye care, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras has said.

The township opted out of the state insurance health plan in 2001. Union contracts require that township employees receive "equal or better" coverage if a town decides to leave the state health plan, he said.

Township employees do pay co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drug medications.

Acropolis has already met twice with Board of Education officials about using the clinics.

"They are interested," he said.