(The Center Square) – North Carolina state employees and retirees could soon have health insurance premiums nearly doubled, state treasurer Brad Briner said Tuesday.
The state insurance plan is projected to have a $500 million shortfall in 2026 which will increase to $800 million in 2027, Briner said during a meeting of state leaders Tuesday. The State Health Plan has about 750,000 people who are retired or employed by the state, including teachers, and their dependents.
“We have a real financial challenge on our hands in the state health plan,” Briner said during the Council of State gathering. “This is not a ‘let’s hope we can fix it in the next couple of years problem.’ It’s a ‘we need to fix it today kind of problem.’”
Employee premiums will likely be increased from $300 a year to around $550 a year, Briner said.
That will still be a bargain compared to private sector health insurance premiums, he said.
“The average company in this state charges almost $1,700 a year,” Briner said. “So while premiums are likely to go up, and are going to be marginally less affordable, I must emphasize that this is still a great benefit for our state employees.”
The state health care plan Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on Friday and Briner urged other state leaders to attend and provide input.
“We do not have a monopoly on all the good ideas,” he said.
Insurance premiums for state employees and retirees have not been increased in seven years, but health care costs have been steadily rising during that time, according to a report by Briner’s office and presented to the Board of Trustees last month.
In 2021, the year after the COVID-19 pandemic swept the state and the world, medical claims for the North Carolina state health plan jumped 15.2%, according to the report. Pharmaceutical costs increased 10.6% that year and been increasing rapidly since, jumping 15.7% in 2023, according to the report stated.
The “rapid consolidation of health care providers in North Carolina has led to steep increases that exceed the capacity and planned growth in legislative funding,” the report said.
