State treasurer reacts to litigation filed over State Health Plan contract change

NSJ Staff—
State Treasurer Dale Folwell. Feb. 1

RALEIGH — As expected, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC has filed litigation paperwork over the change in the State Health Plan’s third-party administrator contract that was awarded to Aetna earlier this year. 

Both Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and UMR, Inc. filed protests over the decision to award the contract to Aetna, however, the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees rejected the claims. 

Per a statement from Folwell’s office, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC has filed a request for a contested case hearing in the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings and a petition for judicial review in Durham County Superior Court in the matter. 

“We are disappointed, but not surprised that these legal challenges were taken,” Folwell’s statement says. “We are looking forward to vigorously defending the unanimous decision of the State Health Plan Board of Trustees - consisting of members appointed by the governor, president pro-tempore of the Senate, speaker of the House, and the treasurer - to accept the recommendation of the Plan’s professional staff. We continue to be intently focused on the needs of our members who teach, protect and otherwise serve the people of North Carolina and taxpayers like them.” 

All documents and filings related to the third-party administrator contract are available for public viewing via a portal on the State Health Plan’s website. 

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A.P. Dillon is a North State Journal reporter located near Raleigh, North Carolina. Find her on Twitter: @APDillon_