2019 Legislative Session
Legislators just returned to Raleigh for the 2019
legislative long session and we are already walking
the halls and knocking on doors on behalf of our
NCRGEA membership. As always, the legislature’s
main job is to develop and pass a balanced biennial
State budget. And as always, your Association is
always working to have a cost of living adjustment
included in that budget.
We need you to play your part in this effort. Our
legislators need to hear from you now more than
ever. We are also publishing the phone and email
address of the 2019 legislative members alphabetized
by county in this issue. If you don’t know
through a zip code search on the General Assembly’s
website www.ncleg.gov.
When you contact legislators, tell them who you
are, how you served, and that you and the more
than 270,000 government retirees across North
Carolina not only need but deserve a cost of living
adjustment. Remember, a pension is a promise,
not a gift. Our legislators need to know it is time to
keep their promises.
The Cost of Transparency: Potential Changes
to the State Health Plan Bring Support,
Criticism
We all agree that transparency and good government
go together. Our State Treasurer Dale
Folwell is currently pitching the “Clear Pricing
Project”, which upon execution, would provide
State Health Plan participants with a new network
of healthcare providers that agree to bill the
State at the Medicare rate plus 77 percent. We’ll
know exactly what is charged for every procedure
covered by the State Health Plan, a “no brainer”
many of us would think should have happened
decades ago.
The project, at least at face value, is easy to
understand and support. Estimates from the State
the State budget, yet nonetheless an impressive
amount of savings. Any efforts for greater government
transparency are lauded by North Carolinians,
and as well they should be.
State Treasurer Folwell’s efforts to protect the
quality and sustainability of the State Health Plan
are critical and timely. Rising unfunded liabilities,
increased life expectancy, and mounting healthcare
costs together forecast a bleak future for the plan;
a future that if mismanaged could turn from bleak
to crisis.
Good stuff so far. But not all believe the State
Treasurer’s plan will come without severe consequences
on our state’s smaller communities—and
the hospitals that serve them. For example, Treasurer
Folwell’s plan is receiving ample criticism
from both medical and hospital groups. Critics say
his plan may jeopardize the current hospital network’s
ability to provide and maintain quality care
across the state’s large geographically vast regions.
If so, this ripple effect may increase healthcare
disparity, limiting a person’s access to care and
potentially the services they may need, namely, in
our rural hospitals.
The State Health Plan itself is a behemoth
among insurance plans. It is the largest health
insurance plan in North Carolina and among the
largest in the United States. With a yearly price
tag of $3.3 billion, the plan covers more than
727,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and
dependents. More than 225 Medicare-eligible and
non-Medicare eligible retirees participate in the
plan today. While applaudable, the “Clear Pricing
Project” is an effort we must take seriously—with
all eyes open. While the NCRGEA supports medical
billing transparency, such transparency must
not come at the cost of our retirees’ healthcare and
quality of life. With members in all 100 counties,
making sure quality of life is safeguarded comes
We will follow these very important issues as
the General Assembly session continues. As the
session continues, we will encourage you to contact
your senators and representatives to ask for
their support on issues that NCRGEA advocates
on your behalf. Your association has more than
68,000 members and it is vital that your legislators
also hear from you.
March - April 2019 3
/www.ncleg.gov