State Health Plan premiums to increase, provider list revealed
- On Friday, the State Health Plan Board of Trustees approved an overhaul designating UNC Health and Novant Health as 'Preferred' providers while adopting 5% premium increases for nearly 750,000 members.
- State Treasurer Brad Briner and State Health Plan Administrator Tom Friedman argued the prior system was 'bankrupting' the plan, prompting this strategy to lower total healthcare spending through provider incentives.
- Under the new tier system, Atrium Health, Granville Health, and some Duke LifePoint Healthcare facilities are 'non-preferred,' potentially raising out-of-pocket maximums to $12,000 annually, while UNC Health and Novant Health offer lower costs.
- Trustees selected Blue Cross Blue Shield to replace Aetna as third-party administrator starting January 1, 2028, after State Treasurer Briner cited a nearly $1 billion cost difference between the companies' proposals.
- Ardis Watkins, leader of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, told the board the 5% premium increase was 'absolutely wrong-headed,' while administrators continue negotiating with Duke Health and WakeMed on tier status.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Blue Cross to return as the NC State Health Plan’s third-party administrator - Seward Independent
From left to right, Blue Cross NC vice president Roy Watson, Jr., N.C. Treasurer Brad Briner, Carl S. Armato, CEO of Novant Health, and Dr. Cristy Page, CEO and Dean of UNC Health and the School of Medicine talk on July 10, 2026 about changes coming to the State Employee Health Plan. (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline)What was old is new again – Blue Cross NC will return to processing State Health Plan benefit claims as its third-party administrato…
State Health Plan OKs premium hikes, preferred providers
On Friday, the North Carolina State Plan Board of Trustees (SHP) voted on what are being called monumental changes to the plan over the next few years, including preferred provider hospital systems, benefit changes, and premiums for 2027, and the announcement of a Third Party Administrator (TPA) and Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) for 2028, in an effort to make improvements and reduce overall costs for the nearly 750,000 members covered by the pl…
What's coming for state employees' insurance in the coming year? Here are the details.
By Rose Hoban Key Takeaways: The NC State Health Plan board of trustees adopted a four-tier provider network. Premiums for most of the 750,000 State Health plan members will rise 5 percent in 2027. There are monetary incentives for members, carrots for choosing “preferred providers” and sticks for staying with “non-preferred” providers. There’s a fundamental principle in the field of economics: “incentives matter.” The premise is that if the …
Blue Cross to return as the NC State Health Plan’s third-party administrator
What was old is new again – Blue Cross NC will return to processing State Health Plan benefit claims as its third-party administrator, replacing Aetna in 2028. Aetna has been the health plan’s third-party administrator since 2025, after health plan trustees, guided by former state Treasurer Dale Folwell, decided to stop working with Blue Cross, […]
Premiums rise, but overall costs could fall for NC State Health Plan members under a new system - The Mexico Ledger
NC Treasurer Brad Briner and State Health Plan Administrator Tom Friedman talk about insurance plan finances on Aug. 15, 2025 (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline)State health plan members will pay less for their care beginning next year if they use UNC Hospitals, Novant Health, and Iredell Health System under a new plan adopted to help lower costs for state employees and the State Health Plan. State Health Plan trustees on Friday agreed to contracts…
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