House, Senate fight over Health Plan

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:21:42 -0400

The last big battle between the House and Senate this session may well be how to bail out the N.C. State Health Plan.

The House passed legislation that would provide $100 million from the rainy day fund to cover deficits in the plan, which legislative leaders say could be steep by early next year, Dan Kane reports.

But Senate leaders say they are considering raising co-payments or deductibles for the roughly 650,000 teachers, state employees, retirees and their families to cover deficits.

"I'm sorry that we have to be tweaking this right now, but we have to be prudent so we don't crash the system," said state Sen. Linda Garrou, a Winston-Salem Democrat and chief budget writer.

House leaders say they don't want to hit those on the plan with an increase at a time when gas and food prices are rising.

"It seems to me that this is the only choice among difficult choices," said Rep. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, after the House rolled out its plan.

More after the jump.

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House, Senate fight over Health Plan