TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick says that since taking office, he has been trying to undo contracts and agreements previous mayors and councils have made with questionable, politically tied monopolies and carriers.
Last year, Rodrick opted the township out of a politically connected health insurance system that ended up saving the township millions each year.
This year, he’s looking for a new municipal insurance provider after the politically connected firm of Conner, Strong, and Buckelew has been tied to numerous state criminal probes and a recent scathing w
Conner, Strong, and Buckelew is a joint operation run by South Jersey Democrat political power boss George Norcross. Joe Buckelew, a wealthy former Ocean County GOP Chairman, is a partner in the company that has an office in downtown Toms River.
For decades, Buckelew and his underling, current GOP Chairman George Gilmore, have pushed towns across the county to use Buckelew and Norcross’s business for all of their insurance needs. That created a monopoly that could soon fall apart as towns begin to shop for cheaper alternatives, including Toms River, Brick, and possibly Berkeley to start. Losing those four major towns could cause a crash in business and send insurance premiums for the remaining loyalist-run towns as soon as next year.
Buckelew recently flew back to New Jersey from his Miami condo to meeet with Berkeley Township Mayor John Bacchione to talk him out of leaving the fund.
Current members of the fund under investigation include Toms River, Manchester, Lacey, and dozens of other municipalities in Ocean County.
Toms River pays $4 million annually to the firm, according to Mayor Rodrick, but that could soon change as he announced he’s officially looking for a new insurance provider to save the township money being spent on the political monopoly. That contract has been in place in Toms River for decades.
“Monopolies are never good,” Rodrick said. “Competition is good. We may find out that we can’t get a better deal, but we have to try for the taxpayers.”
Not only is it never good, it could be criminal. Norcross escaped criminal indictment last year in a bid-rigging investigation by the state on other matters.
A court ruled that Philip Norcross, George’s brother, who was allegedly doing the bidding of George Norcross, something which constitutes the required purposeful state of mind for Theft by Extortion or Criminal Coercion, was not complicit after the prosecution could not sufficiently prove their claims against the brothers.
Ocean County GOP Chairman George Norcross works for Philip Norcross’s lobbying firm.
A sweeping investigation by the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) found that local government and school employee health insurance funds have been plagued by conflicts of interest, procurement violations, and even the use of a fake entity to secure business.
The report, released Tuesday, details how Conner Strong & Buckelew (CSB) and its affiliated arm PERMA exerted outsized influence over three of the state’s largest Health Insurance Funds (HIFs), which collectively manage hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. OSC said the companies blurred the line between public oversight and private profit by writing procurement rules they later benefitted from, concealing conflicts of interest, and controlling contracts through overlapping staff and leadership.
“For decades, the Ocean County Joint Insurance Fund, managed by Connor Strong, has held a dominant position in the county’s insurance market,” Mayor Rodrick said. “This monopoly has stifled competition, leaving municipalities like ours without viable alternatives as rates continued to climb by double-digit percentages each year. As a member of the town council, I repeatedly urged the previous administration to explore alternative options for both the JIF and our employee health benefits plan, but those requests fell on deaf ears.”
In Camden County, the Southern New Jersey Regional Employee Benefits Fund sought to award contracts through a cooperative purchasing process designed in a way that only incumbent vendors could win, effectively locking out competition. In the Schools Health Insurance Fund, which serves more than 100 school boards, OSC found that a CSB employee overseeing contracting was also a shareholder in the company—a conflict never disclosed to regulators or trustees. Over five years, SHIF paid more than $36 million to CSB and PERMA, often through layered per-employee fees.
Joseph Buckelew is also the Chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
Perhaps most startling, OSC uncovered that the “Hi Fund,” a purported billion-dollar statewide insurance pool with its own website, reports, and logo, does not legally exist. The entity, marketed at public conferences and online, was a brand created by CSB and PERMA to attract business. Some fund chairs whose names and photos appeared in Hi Fund materials told OSC they had never even heard of it.
“Our goal is clear: to secure a more cost-effective policy while also ensuring we have the appropriate coverage,” Rodrick said. “The reality is that Connor Strong, a politically connected firm, has enjoyed a virtual monopoly in Ocean County and beyond. This lack of competition can lead to complacency and inadequate service, a concern that has been highlighted by our difficulties in obtaining satisfactory coverage from the JIF, particularly in relation to two lawsuits filed against our town during the prior administration.”
OSC has blocked the contested procurements from moving forward and referred its findings to the Department of Banking and Insurance, the Department of Community Affairs, the School Ethics Commission, and the Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs. The funds’ boards have been ordered to adopt corrective action plans within 60 days, without the involvement of current vendors.
Officials warned that the consolidation of control by a single private company over public employee health benefits poses a serious risk to transparency, competition, and taxpayer trust.
Key Points
- OSC found that CSB and PERMA acted as one entity, writing and benefiting from health insurance contracts without proper disclosure.
- A fake “Hi Fund” was used as a marketing tool to attract clients, despite not being a legal or public entity.
- New Jersey HIFs must now adopt corrective action plans and face multiple state referrals for further investigation.
A watchdog report says New Jersey’s health insurance safety net was quietly commandeered by private hands.
