A retiree’s voice broke as she recounted to the SEBC Retiree Benefits Subcommittee on Friday what it would mean for her health coverage to change. “About 10 days ago, my husband was diagnosed with cancer,” Diana Noonan said in the Zoom call. “He had scheduled for surgery next week. And the word cancer is daunting, and it’s also been frightening, …
The State Employee Benefits Committee Monday was told that employees are pleased with benefits but want higher pay. That was the message from a survey of employees that included 7,902 answers, a 24% response rate, which Sean Connelly, a senior director of Employee Experiences at Willis Towers Watson. He said the percentage of responses gave the agency a high confidence …
A subcommittee exploring state retiree health plans on Monday voted to recommend that the General Assembly codify putting 1% of the state budget into a fund that pays retiree benefits to lower the billions of dollars of deficit. The State Employee Benefits retiree subcommittee asked Cheiron, a consulting firm, to look into additional ways for the state to lower the …
Two state health subcommittees focused Monday on the rising cost and utilization of health care. Those costs are the basis of predictions about how many healthcare services employees and retirees will use and are used to determine insurance premiums and more. At a joint SEBC Financial and Health Policy & Planning Subcommittee meeting Monday, Chris Giovannello of Willis Towers Watson …
The SEBC subcommittee continued Monday to dive into the minutiae of Medicare plans for state retirees. The subcommittee gave a lot of time to the costs to the average retiree for the state’s special group health insurance plan Medicfill versus Medigap K, G and N supplement plans and two Medicare Advantage plus prescription drug plans. They focused on costs for …
A state committee will vote April 24 on whether to once again extend retirees current health insurance for another six months. The State Employee Benefits Committee will vote on a recommendation from its retiree subcommittee about whether to extend the current plan, as it did in October amid an uproar over a planned change. The need for the plan to …
The State Employee Benefits Committee agreed to increase rates for workers on state health insurance by 9.4%. Chris Giovannello, who advises the state on benefits, said the committee had the option of a 16.8% increase at the beginning of July, or the 9.4% increase next year to address a $140.5 million deficit. The committee is expected to vote for the …
The state has a variety of ways to lower what it’s paying for retiree healthcare, a new benefits subcommittee was told Thursday. For current workers, they include: Cutting benefits for current employees by doing things like reducing benefits for spouses. Changing benefits given to people who worked for the state but didn’t retire with the state. Establishing a minimum age …
Delaware will cover new weight loss medications for state employees. The Delaware State Employee Benefit Committee unanimously approved a plan that would include the drugs as well part of a program that includes utilization management and behavior modification programs. It was unclear when the move would take effect. Adding the drugs to state employee and retiree health plans will cost …
