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Your health care premiums will increase 3 percent unless we push back

1/18/2019

Dear Colleague,

It looks like the Group Insurance Commission wants to increase your health care costs by 3% (see the info from the GIC below).  Please let them know what you think during their ‘listening tour’ before they make decisions that increase costs or reduce services (see attached flyer).

Health Insurance Hearing:  This Tuesday January 22, 11:30-1, McCormack State Office Building, 21st floor conference rooms, One Ashburton Place, Boston. Let the Group Insurance Commission know your health care insurance needs.  Speak at the listening tour so that they understand that affordable, comprehensive care is needed.  See the attached for other dates in other areas of the state.  We will also send you information on how to submit written testimony when we receive that information.

Sincerely,

Marlene Kim

FSU President

Professor, Economics

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January 18, 2019—The Group Insurance Commission (GIC) outlined benefit design recommendations for FY2020 at its commission meeting on January 17, 2019.

 

The proposed recommendations shared with the Commission include:

 

·        Medicare: No benefit changes

·        Non-Medicare: All carriers, products, yearly deductibles remain the same

·        One benefit design change: Two co-pays to incentivize members to choose freestanding facilities for eye procedures and GI endoscopies, which would give members the option to pay less for these services. Co-pays for procedures at hospital outpatient facilities would remain the same for this fiscal year.

·        Provider Tiering: Continuing to migrate from individual to group-based tiering for all specialists, aligning with existing group-based tiering by some GIC carriers.

·        Projected year over year aggregate increase of 3.3%

 

Additionally, the GIC also voted to approve the selection of a new FSA vendor, Benefit Strategies, following its recent procurement.

 

Following the Commission meeting, the GIC will seek input from members and stakeholders at these public listening sessions:

 

·        January 22 in Boston

·        January 23  in Worcester, and

·        January 29 in Springfield.

 

The Commission will vote on the proposed benefit designs on February 7, 2019 and on the benefit rates on February 28. Following this, the GIC will begin to communicate with members about this year’s Spring Annual Enrollment which will run from April 3 through May 1, 2019.