Before speech ambush, Horizon offered Christie $135M ‘partnership’

TRENTON — In the days before Gov. Chris Christie pressured Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to share some of its “abundant surplus” to fund drug treatment programs, the state’s largest health insurance company had extended an olive branch to the governor, NJ Advance Media has learned. According to three sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Horizon’s proposed $135 million to fund drug treatment and other health programs for the poor.