State Health Plan Board Kicks Needed Reforms Down the Road

A tentative plan to make changes to the State Health Plan for state government employees has been taken “off the table” in response to feedback from state employees. From WRAL:

The board governing North Carolina’s State Health Plan has delayed action on raising costs for members, and State Treasurer Janet Cowell says a controversial long-term cost savings proposal is “off the table” going forward.

The State Health Plan board met Friday afternoon to consider the costs roughly 691,000 teachers, state employees and retirees will pay for health coverage in 2017.

Options being considered included eliminating the 80/20 plan and asking enrollees to begin contributing small monthly amounts toward their premiums. State taxpayers paid about $2.5 billion to support the health benefits of employees and retirees – that’s more than 10 percent of the state’s General Fund budget.

I wrote a piece a few years ago detailing the fiscal woes of North Carolina’s State Health Plan, along with some recommendations for reform. Also detailed is how NC’s State Health Plan is far more generous than plans offered in the private sector, and even significantly more generous than health plans for state and local governments across the south Atlantic region.