News from Raleigh
From N.C. Rep. Hugh Blackwell
86th State House District
Burke County
RALEIGH
State Health Plan Update
I continue to hear from state employees across Burke County concerning S.B. 287, that will make significant changes to the State Health Plan (SHP). The significant changes in S.B. 287 are substantially increased costs and reduced benefits for our state employees and their families.
The Senate had delayed voting on this measure several times while the Senate Majority Leader, Tony Rand, of Cumberland County, attempted to line up sufficient votes for passage. Because of difficulty for Sen. Rand in getting the needed votes, it was not voted on until this past Tuesday.
Sen. Rand is urging that this bill must be passed by Wednesday so that changes to the plan can go into effect July 1, the first day of the plan’s next fiscal year. Rand argues that it takes 60 to 90 days to change the billing system of the SHP and to educate providers and plan members.
Last week, legislators received a great number of contacts from local pharmacists across the state who expressed concern over pharmacy provisions included in S.B. 287. These provisions would require plan members to receive their maintenance medications through the mail, saving $93 million.
This week, Sen. Rand proposed an amendment that removed those provisions and raised dependant premiums 8.6 percent annually over the next two years (instead of the 7.8 percent increase already proposed by Sen. Rand in the bill), to make up the lost savings from not relying more on mail-order medications.
The Senate passed the amendment unanimously. The bill then passed the Senate by a vote of 28-18 with all Democrats voting in favor and all Republicans voting against the bill.
S.B. 287 is now being considered by the House. Thursday, it was considered by the House Committee on Insurance. Although I am not a member of that committee, I sat in on the meeting because of the extraordinary importance of this issue to so many in Burke County.
Because of many questions raised and complaints that adequate time for discussion and amendment was lacking, the committee deferred voting on the bill until the following week. If S.B. 287 passes the House Committee on Insurance, it will be referred to the Committee on Appropriations and from there I expect it will go to the House floor for a vote by the full membership.
I remain opposed to this bill. I think SHP is being mismanaged by those calling the shots in the legislature in Raleigh. The General Assembly knowingly allowed the plan’s problems to fester. It delayed, over the objections of others, addressing the issues in a more timely manner.
In these circumstances, I think a long-term assessment is needed. The state should try to find funds, even in this bad financial year, to absorb most or all of the additional costs for the next year to give time for a proper evaluation and serious revision of not just plan provisions but plan management and administration.
Grandfather Mountain Bill to Become Law
S.B. 89, which previously passed the Senate, authorizes substantial acreage at Grandfather Mountain to be added to our state park system. The bill passed the House on Thursday and now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law.
I co-sponsored H.B. 128, the House version of the same bill. It frequently happens that the same bill is introduced separately in the Senate and the House. As a result, if the bill passes one body of the legislature before it does the other, then the bill goes over to the chamber for consideration.
Because the Senate completed action on S.B. 89 on March 9 before we had finished the House version of the same bill, the Senate bill becomes law and the House version is simply dropped.
The important thing, though, is that we can be pleased that we accomplished the intended purpose and that this important addition at Grandfather Mountain will now become officially part of North Carolina’s state park system.
Editor’s note: Gov. Bev Perdue will sign Senate Bill 89 to authorize the creation of Grandfather Mountain State Park on Tuesday. She will be joined by DENR Sec. Dee Freeman, state legislators and other state officials, as well as members of the Morton family.
Do not hesitate to contact me or Joan Adams, my legislative assistant, with your thoughts and questions.
Hugh Blackwell
300 N. Salisbury St.
Room 606
Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: 919-733-5805
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Fax: 919-754-3133
