Lawmakers will not bail out health plan

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:26:28 -0400

State lawmakers will not try to bail out the health plan that serves roughly 650,000 state workers, teachers, retirees and their families before the 2008 session ends today.

House and Senate leaders could not reach an agreement on how to fix the plan, which they say is paying out more than it is taking in. The House voted Thursday to set aside $100 million from the rainy day fund to cover deficits, but the Senate won't take up the legislation, Dan Kane reports.

Senate leaders wanted to raise co-pays for brand-name prescription drugs and on doctor visits, but House leaders said it was unfair to place that burden on plan members at a time when gas, food and other costs are rising rapidly.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand and House Minority Leader Hugh Holliman said if the plan heads deeply into the red, a special legislative session could be called to work out a fix.

"We'll just deal with it on a week-to-week, month-to-month basis," said Holliman, a Lexington Democrat. "If we get into real trouble we'll just have a special session."

The plan currently has about $140 million in it, Holliman said, but he added that the plan spends roughly $50 million a week. The plan's interim administrator, Jack Walker, said it should have more than $200 million in it by early next year to stabilize it.

The plan's troubles only surfaced recently, and led to the abrupt firing of executive administrator George C. Stokes. He said he has steered the plan from serious deficits, and expects it to perform well in the current fiscal year that ends June 30, 2009.

Lawmakers are planning to adjourn this afternoon.

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Lawmakers will not bail out health plan