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Mon. late: Long Shot?
posted at 2009-03-31 01:08 | Last modified 2009-03-31 01:10
I’m not sure what it says about Jones St. lately that the most interesting thing about the legislative calendar tends to be what isn’t on it.
House Insurance Committee co-chair Michael Wray announced tonight that tomorrow’s meeting is cancelled. That means no vote or debate on the State Health Plan reform bill, which was the topic of a SEANC radio ad that hit airwaves around the state today. If you haven’t heard it yet, here it is.
Listen Now!
And here’s the text of the ad:
"It's not just executives on Wall Street who are making millions at our expense. Right here in North Carolina, big shots at Blue Cross Blue Shield are bringing home multi-million dollar paychecks, while health care costs skyrocket. Last year Blue Cross made $180 million in profits-including money from a no-bid contract to administer our State Health Plan. Not bad for a "non-profit." Well, now the State Health Plan is in trouble and the legislature wants to not only cut benefits, but raise premiums, deductibles and co-pays to cover the costs and leave Blue Cross Blue Shield profits untouched. That's not fair. Call House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman at 919-715-0873 and tell him to make Blue Cross Blue Shield pay its fair share. "
Majority Leader Hugh Holliman is handling the bill on the House side. His office phone was ringing off the hook today – though, as his LA pointed out, that isn’t an unusual event lately, what with talk of state employee furloughs, program cuts, etc.
Holliman argues the ad is inaccurate in its assessment of Blue Cross’s profits.
"They insinuate that $180M that Blue Cross makes is on the State Health Plan. The Blue Cross people tell me they make less than a million dollars on our plan in profit. So that’s – I can’t tell you other than what they tell me, but that’s certainly not where we can go to find the money that we need."
BCBS insists it’s making very little “profit” on the state contract – “less than a penny on the dollar,” according to spokesman Lew Borman. But critics say BCBS is camouflaging profits as “expenses and overhead” – and when I asked Holliman whether BCBS’s might be out of line, he ducked the question.
“Well, that’s pretty standard in contracts with large companies that they do apply a percentage of overhead to it. Probably if we had to do it over again, we may not want bonuses and things like that to be included, but salaries generally are. But there again, I get the feeling we’re talking about pennies when we’re trying to save millions of dollars.”
But which are we talking about, really, and how would we know? I think Holliman’s right when he says he “can’t tell you other than what they tell me.” If I’m reading the State Health Plan contract right (and not being a lawyer, I may not be), if an audit is needed, BCBS gets to choose the auditor, and once it’s finished, BCBS gets to decide what if any audit findings to release to plan managers. (Sources in the State Auditor’s office tell me they’re bound by that agreement, too.)
So in other words, if BCBS is making too much on expenses or overhead, it’s up to them -- and only them -- to disclose it. Not to cast aspersions on our friends at Blue, but it’s hard to imagine such a deal being cut in a competitive bid process, which is exactly what BCBS didn’t go through to get the contract in the first place.
Trash Talk
Ten NC lawmakers and a whole lot of lobbyists will get on a bus Tuesday at noon and head south to Columbia, where they’ll swap their suit jackets for jerseys for their biennial grudge match against lawmakers and lobbyists south of the border.
Every other year, legislators from North and South Carolina meet for a more-or-less friendly basketball game. The legislative match has been a tradition since 1979. This year’s bipartisan team includes two senators and eight representatives of varying ages and skill.
Jackson Dem Phil Haire is coordinating the trip. This’ll be his fourth NC/SC game. He says NC lawmakers have won 9 out of 14 games played since 1979 -- and youth and vigor have nothing to do with it.
"You know, we’re gonna be sure we have plenty of liniment, and maybe a stretcher or two. And ..South Carolina’s rough – I also have to say this much - they’re bruisers and bangers. But we play with a little bit more finesse and a little bit more skill than they do. And that’s why we’ve been able to win."
North Carolina’s legislature currently holds the trophy, which they won in 2005 in a game at RBC Center. (Haire is quick to point out that legislators are the only undefeated team ever to play at RBC.) They had to skip the ’07 game, so this year, they’ll play at USC’s Coliseum. Haire says everyone pays their own way. More on the rosters here.
Comments? Drop me a line.
