(The Center Square) – Duke Health is jeopardizing North Carolina’s efforts to make its employee and retiree health insurance program more financially stable, first-term Republican state Treasurer Brad Briner says.
While other health care providers have kept rates flat or even reduced them for the state health plan, Duke wants to increase its rates, Briner said.
Duke only serves about 3% of the North Carolina health insurance plan members, but the proposed increase could still force the state to raise premiums in 2027, Briner said. In its efforts to stabilize the health care plan financially, the governing board for the North Carolia health plan has already scheduled a premium increase in 2026.
“Not only is Duke refusing to lower existing rates, they have also insisted on increases,” Briner said Tuesday.
Duke is threatening to leave the network, which is administered by Aetna, if North Carolina does not agree to the higher rates, according to Briner.
“We cannot and will not agree to their demands,” he said.
The state is taking steps to prepare for Duke’s withdrawal from the network, the treasurer said.
“Those preparations include continuance of care for those with life-threatening conditions so when Duke inevitably tries to escalate the situation and tell you we are risking our member’s lives, know that is simply false,” said Briner.
In a statement, Duke called the proposed reimbursement rate increases modest, below the rate of inflation.
“As a world-class academic medical center, we see some of the most complex and acute patients across the state,” the statement said. “Despite escalating costs in pharmaceuticals, supplies, and labor, Duke Health has not received a rate adjustment from Aetna in four years, according to Aetna’s own data.”
Briner countered that Duke made more than $600 million in profit last year and has more than $4 billion in investments from profits in previous years.
In its statement, Duke pointed out that it provides millions of dollars in financial assistance to patients.
“Our physicians routinely provide donated care, and we absorb cost gaps when government programs fall short,” Duke said.
Duke Health, its website says, “integrates the Duke University Health System (all of our hospitals and clinics), Duke University School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Duke University School of Nursing, Duke Health Integrated Practice (Duke physicians practice), and incorporates the health and health research programs within the Duke Global Health Institute as well as those in schools and centers across Duke University, including the Duke Robert J. Margolis Center for Health Policy.”
