RALEIGH, N.C.  – A North Carolina lawmaker has completely reworked legislation sought by coastal homeowners saddled with huge increases in their insurance premiums, deductibles and surcharges.

Democratic Sen. Julia Boseman of New Hanover County said Tuesday she was giving way as legislative leaders work behind closed doors to craft a deal between coastal interests and the insurance industry.

A state Senate committee considered a Boseman bill that would have frozen the increased insurance costs. Residents along the North Carolina coast are facing homeowners premium increases of up to 30 percent.

Instead, the bill was rewritten so that the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission could stop forcing private clubs to have a waiting period for new members.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina coastal homeowners saddled this spring with huge increases in their insurance premiums, deductibles and surcharges are seeking help from state lawmakers.

A state Senate committee on Tuesday considers a bill that would temporarily freeze the increased insurance costs. Residents along the North Carolina coast are facing homeowners insurance premium increases of up to 30 percent.

Also Tuesday, a House judiciary committee will consider a bill that would stop any surpluses collected by the state-backed insurance pool called the Beach Plan from being distributed back to the insurance companies that paid into the fund.

Behind closed doors, legislative leaders are crafting a deal between coastal interests and the insurance industry.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Legislature appears close to completing a bailout of the North Carolina state employee health insurance plan.

Rep. Hugh Holliman said Wednesday the House and Senate have reached a tentative compromise bill that could receive final votes later in the day. If approved, it would be sent to Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Under the proposal, the health plan would receive $675 million from operating revenues and highway funds through mid-2011.

The plan’s 667,000 members would face higher deductibles and copays, and dependent coverage premiums would go up by 8.9 percent annually. Benefits would decrease for people who smoke or considered significantly obese.

Health plan officials said if additional funding didn’t come this week, there would be dramatic payment delays to doctors.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – North Carolina’s unemployment rate is at its highest level on record, and with it are concerns that tens of thousands of workers – both employed and unemployed – will lose employer-subsidized health insurance.

Dr. Kevin Schulman, who directs the health sector management program at Duke University’s business school, said premiums could push small businesses into a choice between coverage or layoffs. He said other workers may see deductibles raised so high they’ll be able to count on it for little more than catastrophic emergencies.

The National Federation of Independent Business reports less than half of North Carolina’s small companies can afford employee health insurance coverage.

But some help could come. For example, an expansion of a federal program could insure another 17,000 children in North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Wednesday he supports Senate Bill 957, which qualifies laid-off employees of small businesses for federal benefits that extends the enrollment period of and helps pay for COBRA health insurance coverage.

“I want to thank Senator Nesbitt for working with the Department of Insurance on this important piece of legislation, and sponsoring it on behalf of our agency,” said Commissioner Goodwin. “Now more than ever, it’s imperative that the state does its part in making sure North Carolinians are getting as many of the benefits found in the federal stimulus package as possible.”

COBRA gives workers and their families the option to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plans for limited periods of time under certain circumstances. Under federal law, COBRA generally applies to employers with 20 or more employees, and workers may be charged up to 102 percent of the full health insurance premium. Smaller employers — those who have fewer than 20 employees — are required to offer the same continuation coverage under North Carolina’s Group Health Insurance Continuation laws, often called “mini-COBRA.”

The federal stimulus package contains two provisions that expand the benefits available to those employees who have been involuntarily terminated from their positions:

1.      Provides a subsidy that pays for 65 percent of the premium for both COBRA and mini-COBRA recipients who enroll from Sept. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2009. Depending on the size of the former employer, either the employer or the insurance provider fronts 65 percent of the premium amount and then recoups that expense through federal payroll tax credits. Workers are responsible for the remaining 35 percent of the premium.

2.      Extends the election period for eligible employees to determine whether or not they wish to enroll in the federal COBRA program. The federal stimulus package does not mandate an extended election period for mini-COBRA plans; however, if SB 957 passes, it will extend the mini-COBRA election period in North Carolina.

Unemployed workers who are eligible for the stimulus-related benefits will be notified by their former employer’s group health insurance provider.

Consumers who have general questions about COBRA benefits or other insurance questions, may call the N.C. Department of Insurance at 800-546-5664. For specific questions about COBRA subsidies, enrollment periods, employer payroll tax credits or other technical information, consumers and employers may contact the U.S. Department of Labor at 866-444-3272 or the Internal Revenue Service at 800-829-4933.

The State Health Plan has never audited the company it pays about $100 million annually to process members’ claims to make sure that the company’s expenses are appropriate, the plan’s executive administrator said Thursday.

By MARSHA MERCER
Media General News Service

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama stumbled with his plan to ask veterans to use their private insurance to pay for combat injuries and disabilities.

After putting forth the proposal, he was forced to scrap it after strong protest from veterans and members of Congress.

But why did veterans have to get up in arms to convince the president it was a bad idea? What happened to the vaunted Obama populist savvy? The idea of imposing a third-party — insurance companies – into the medical care of wounded warriors goes against the American grain.

In his second Inaugural Address a few weeks before the Civil War’s end, President Abraham Lincoln set the bar for his exhausted country’s – and the U.S. government’s — obligation: “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”  

Lincoln’s phrase became the motto for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

The root cause of the unpopular insurance idea is, of course, money.

The ever-rising cost of health care is a slippery issue that Obama and Congress eventually will have to grasp and subdue. But any politician would have to be tone deaf to think it’s a good idea to save money on the backs of veterans with combat injuries.

The administration hoped to save upwards of $500 million a year by billing veterans’ private insurance for their service-related medical care. The American Legion and service groups cried foul, saying the government should continue to provide the care.

Critics worried that the change might make it hard for war-wounded vets to obtain care if service-related injuries became a pre-existing condition under private insurance.

David K. Rehbein, national commander of the American Legion, emerged from a meeting with veterans’ groups and Obama on Monday and said, “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be
compromised by it.”

Writing in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Rehbein imagined the answering system at an insurance company, if the change were to occur: 

“If you were injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and you have not paid your co-pay, please press 1. If you were injured during military training and you have not yet reached your deductible, please press 2. If your family has reached its maximum insurance benefit, please call back after you have purchased additional coverage.
Thank you for your service.”

A chilling prospect, to be sure. Veterans with war-related injuries and disabilities should be and are a special case. Obama dropped the plan Wednesday after members of Congress sent him a letter vowing to kill it.

The episode says a lot about the problems Obama will face in trying to rein in health-care costs generally while expanding coverage for 47 million uninsured.

Douglas W. Elendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified to a health subcommittee in the House earlier this month on options for controlling the cost and increasing the efficiency of health care. There weren’t many of the former, and the latter are likely to be unpopular.

Health care spending is a double whammy. “The available evidence suggests that a substantial share of spending on health care contributes little if anything to the overall health of the nation, but finding ways to reduce such spending without also affecting services that improve health will be difficult,” Elendorf said in prepared remarks.

When Obama dropped the insurance proposal, veterans breathed a sigh of relief. But the administration still wants to find that $530 million or so a year somewhere. Some groups, including the American Legion, support allowing Medicare to reimburse the VA for medical care of wounded warriors.

To sweeten the deal with vets, Obama’s new budget provides for a $25 billion increase in funding for the VA over five years. This will allow the VA to serve an additional half million vets by 2013, according to VA secretary Eric Shinseki.

That’s good news for veterans. But it won’t solve the larger problem of health care access and cost. Each solution Obama and his policy wonks think up likely will have its own grassroots constituency, ready to mobilize at the click of a mouse to stop change they don’t believe in. 

(What do you think? Comment at mgwashington.com or e-mail mmercer@mediageneral.com)

RALEIGH, N.C. – An overhaul of the state employee health insurance plan that’s supposed to be on the fast track keeps getting delayed as lawmakers and lobbyists try to resolve a flap over prescription drugs.

The Senate delayed Thursday a third time this week debate on legislation that would reduce benefits, increase premiums and inject $625 million in taxpayer money into the plan. The debate has been rescheduled for Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand of Cumberland County says he’s giving colleagues time to come up with an alternative proposal to a new prescription drug program for people with chronic illnesses. It would save $90 million, but small-town pharmacists are worried it could put them out of business.

Rand said the bill still needs to be passed by April 1 to get full savings from the changes.

Overweight employees in North Carolina may soon be paying higher health insurance costs, the N&O reports.