More health care price changes could be on the way in NC for state employees
After a vote today big changes coming for how the
state health plan bills people
Some could pay less others might have to pay more
So here to break it all down is WRAL state
government reporter Will Doran
Will I want to get into the details here but
first we've got to talk about the stakes
Who is affected by these changes Yes Ashleigh more than
750,000 state government workers retirees their family members are insured
through the state health plan and right now it's facing
a big financial shortfall $200 million in the red this
year
The plan raised people's premiums last year
For the first time in nearly a decade but they
are also looking at other ways to get creative with
savings hoping that that helps avoid needing to raise rates
even higher
And that was really the debate today right How can
they save money on the health plan What was their
solution Actually they want to drive people away from certain
doctors hospitals other providers that charge a lot and instead
push people to doctors who agree to lower their rates
for state employees
Now the health can't force people to leave their doctors
but they can change how visits get billed
So going forward some providers will be completely free for
state health plan members
We're talking no co-pays no out of pocket costs even
for things like getting an X-ray or going to see
a specialist but at the same time the state is
going to hike up the costs to be treated by
other doctors who are not part of the state's group
of preferred providers
You reported that the state has already been sort of
testing this out
How is that going That's right
For the last few months certain kinds of surgeries have
been free for people on the state health plan a
sort of pilot program here but again it's using the
same model
It's only free if you go to the surgeon that
the state wants you to see
If you choose somebody else even if they are in-network
you could face higher bills
State health plan leaders say that program has gone so
well that they now want to apply the same rules
to
Basically all types of healthcare procedures
We are expecting another vote this summer to hammer out
all the details and these changes could be in effect
by next year
Free surgery
OK thanks Will
I know this is really complex but Will has an
article breaking this all down for you online at .com
I know you've worked hard on this one so that
you can learn more about this