Hackensack Meridian Health: Physicians, Nurses, and Staff

Where the money goes now

The HMH 401(k) Savings Plan

Staff of HMH Hospitals Corporation, which includes Hackensack University Medical Center, and of the corporate offices and medical groups, are in the HMH 401(k) Savings Plan. Its summary sets out three kinds of employer money:

Employer contribution	How much	Vesting
Match on the first 2% you save	100%	3-year cliff
Match on the next 3% you save	50%	3-year cliff
Core contribution, if you are employed on the last day of the plan year and worked at least 1,000 hours	1.5% of pay, once a year	3-year cliff

The match is made each pay period for full-time and part-time staff scheduled to work more than 20 hours a week. Saving 5% of pay earns the full match of 3.5%; with the core contribution, the employer puts in 5% in total. You are eligible from your date of hire and enrolled automatically at 3%, rising 1% a year to 6%. A 3-year cliff means you keep none of the employer money if you leave before three years, and all of it at three.

Why a 401(k) matters in New Jersey

New Jersey does not tax 401(k) contributions when you make them, so the whole withdrawal is taxed later. It does tax 403(b) and 457 contributions in the year you make them, so when you retire “you will only be taxed on amounts you receive exceeding those contributions.” If you worked at HMH before 2019, you may have both kinds of money, because the older 403(b) has received no contributions since December 31, 2018. Keep the records of what you put into it, because they reduce your New Jersey tax on every withdrawal.

Rather go through this with your own numbers? We can cover it in a short conversation, at no charge and with no obligation. Book your Retirement Review

Different plans for some staff

• Grandfathered Hackensack University Medical Center and Palisades staff who kept their pension are in a separate 401(k). Grandfathered HUMC staff receive a 50% match on up to 4% of pay; grandfathered Palisades staff receive no match.
• Health Ventures entities, such as home care and residential care, have their own plan: a match of 100% on the first 3% and 50% on the next 2%, with a 3-year cliff.

What you may already have

Frozen plans you may still have

• The Consolidated 403(b) Plan has been frozen since December 31, 2018, with no contributions after that date. Participants who were active on both December 31, 2018 and January 1, 2019 are fully vested.
• The Consolidated Defined Contribution Plan is a legacy defined contribution plan, now frozen.
• The Consolidated Pension Plan is a cash balance pension insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. It was created by merging the Raritan Bay, Palisades, Bayshore, JFK, Carrier Clinic and HUMC plans into the Meridian Hospitals Corporation Cash Balance Plan. HMH’s 2025 financial statements say that as of December 31, 2021 it had become “completely frozen to the remaining benefit accruals.” What you earned before the freeze is still yours.

If you worked at any of those hospitals, ask for a pension statement even if you left years ago. The statement shows whether you can take it as a lump sum or only as an annuity, and the pension decisions page covers that choice.

Physicians and executives

HMH’s financial statements say that certain employees participate in 457(b) and 457(f) deferred compensation plans; their terms are not published. An older executive plan at HUMC was frozen as of December 31, 2010. At a tax-exempt employer a 457(b) balance remains the employer’s property until it is paid to you and cannot be rolled into an IRA, so read the Healthcare professionals page before you choose how it is paid.

Pascack Valley and Mountainside

These two hospitals are joint ventures with Hackensack Meridian run by Ardent Health, which describes itself as a for-profit operator. Its SEC filings show it holds 65% of Pascack Valley and 80% of Mountainside. The Pascack Valley employer is a participating employer in the Ardent Health Services Retirement Savings Plan, a 401(k) with a safe harbor match of 100% on the first 3% and 50% on the next 2%, always fully vested, and eligibility from age 21 and 60 days of service. The plan summary does not name a Mountainside employer, so Mountainside staff should confirm in writing which plan covers them.

Health coverage when you leave

HMH’s separation guide says coverage ends at the end of the month you leave, after which COBRA is available, and that “team members who are retiring will also require a Supplemental Health Plan.” No retiree health plan is described. If you retire before 65, price the coverage before you choose the date.