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Thurs: State health plan deal
posted at 2008-07-17 12:39 | Last modified 2008-07-17 15:40
This just in: House budget leaders have come up with a plan to bail out the flagging State Health Plan - and it does NOT include raising premiums or co-pays - not for now, anyway. (More background here.)
The proposal that's headed into House Approps this afternoon would use $100M from the state's savings reserve to create a State Health Plan Contingency Fund. In case you're wondering, the State Savings Reserve is about $1.1B $740M, so this won't be much of a stretch. (Update: The $1.1B is the total statewide reserve, not "rainy day" funds.)
If the plan finds itself unable to meet its claims, the Executive Director would report that and requisition reserve funds as needed to cover the bills.
The SHP Contingency Fund would only last till next June 30th, when any unused funds would revert to the Savings Reserve. Any money used would be replaced in the Savings Reserve Fund "as soon as is practical," according to Senior Budget Chair Mickey Michaux.
There are a few other items in the bill, too, including quarterly reports by the plan chief to House and Senate Approps.
This ought to be good news for SEANC. They've been warning state employees that legislators were aiming to cover the shortfall by raising health care costs. Looks like that's not the case, at least for now - we'll have to see if the Senate plays along.
More when it's finalized.
