Answering criticism from thousands of teachers, employees and retirees, state officials announced Tuesday that two more companies will offer health coverage to the 650,000 members of the State Health Benefits Plan next year.
UnitedHealthCare, which sued the state last year after being excluded from the $3 billion plan, was selected to offer three plans next year, including a statewide HMO. Such HMOs generally have higher premiums but low out-of-pocket costs. Kaiser Permanente, which also lost out last year, will offer an HMO in the Atlanta area in 2015, the Department of Community Health said.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, which has run the plan exclusively this year, will also continue as a provider next year.
The move may help ease some of the complaints that began last year when UnitedHealthCare accused DCH of “state-sponsored bid-rigging” for handing management of the plan over to Blue Cross.
In January, teachers, retirees and state employees began protesting plan changes, which forced them to pay much higher out-of-pocket costs and, in some cases, limited which doctors they could see and what treatment they could receive.
Gov. Nathan Deal, facing the backlash at the same time he was trying to run for re-election, funneled an extra $100 million into the plan to eliminate some of the high out-of-pocket costs paid by plan members.
While it helped some, it didn’t satisfy many teachers, retirees and employees, who criticized the fact that Deal’s DCH was allowing only one provider - Blue Cross and Blue Shield - to offer limited coverage.
The agency was later sued, accused of overcharging thousands of plan members for their health insurance. That lawsuit is still pending.
In a statement Tuesday, Deal said, “The Department of Community Health has provided plan members with more new choices to find the health care plan that’s best for their families.”
DCH Commissioner Clyde Reese said, “We heard and listened to our members and providers concerns regarding the 2014 plan choices. We have worked to provide short-term relief this year. Today we announce the plan will offer more vendor and insurance option choices in the upcoming year. I am confident this enhanced package will benefit our members and plan providers around the state.”
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