Thousands of Georgia teachers and other workers on the state’s health benefit plan could have fewer insurance options starting next year.
State health officials are considering replacing the two insurance companies — Cigna and UnitedHealthcare — that currently administer the state’s benefits program. The state’s decision could include paying just one insurer to oversee the massive benefits program, which provides health coverage to roughly 640,000 state employees, retirees and family members.
The state plan shells out more than $3 billion each year in medical costs.
The Georgia Department of Community Health opened up competition to administer the plan to other insurance companies earlier this year. A department spokeswoman declined to comment on the issue, saying the agency is still in the procurement process.
“It’s still an open bid and we haven’t heard anything from the state yet,” said Bert Kelly, a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, one of the insurers vying for the state’s business.
The move could be cause for concern for state employees, said Tim Callahan, a spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. The group represents more than 84,000 teachers, administrators and other school workers.
Employees have seen their health care costs rise in recent years as their paychecks have flat-lined or decreased, Callahan said.
There was much consternation last time the state switched to a new insurer because the company didn’t have existing contracts already negotiated with some of the big hospitals across the state, Callahan said. He added that the state needs to make sure to cover all details if it decides to switch again.
“Eventually, it was OK,” he said. “But in the interim, we had tens of thousands of people across the state who thought that they would not be covered.”
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