RALEIGH — State Treasurer Dale Folwell signaled good news for the State Health Plan with the announcement an additional $47 million had been saved due to enrollment in Humana Medicare Advantage Plans (HMAP).
The State Health Plan (SHP) is a division of Folwell’s office and covers around 740,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, current and former lawmakers, state university and community college personnel, and their dependents.
“For every Medicare member that we enroll in one of our Medicare Advantage plans, the Plan saves approximately $4,700 per year,” Folwell said in a press release. “We are thrilled to see so many retirees take advantage of these plans. Not only does it save the Plan money, it also gives them an opportunity to save with a ‘0’ dollar premium for the base plan and only $4 a month for dependent coverage, all at no cost to the taxpayers.”
Folwell unveiled the news at the SHP Board of Trustees meeting during the first week of May. The savings were possible due to 9,975 additional members added to the HMAP.
Medicare-eligible retirees have three plans to choose from; Humana Group Medicare Advantage Base or Enhanced plans and the Base PPO Plan (70/30). The Humana Group Medicare Advantage plans are comparable to a 90/10 plan and have no deductible, no specialist referral requirement and all preventative services are covered at 100%.
According to the release by Folwell’s office, those choosing the Humana route save the SHP thousands of dollars and help reduce the SHP’s $23.7 billion unfunded liability.
