I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports in today’s edition that the board overseeing the state’s Retiree Health Care Authority has made some changes to health benefit plans offered to several thousand of its members.
As reporter Kate Nash explains in her story, members will be able to choose from one of the two new plans that could cost significantly less, although some could see costs increase as much as 40 percent.
The changes came two weeks ago when the authority voted to scrap its three-plan system — known as Gold, Silver and Bronze plans — in favor of a two-plan systems. The new plans are called Premier Plus and Premier.
The changes were made in large part to help close an expected $7 million to $8 million projected gap between what the agency pays out in claims and what it takes in in revenues.
The authority provides health care for about 40,000 members who have retired from state, city, county governments as well as from several higher educational institutions.
Here’s an excerpt from the New Mexican story:
Members will get letters in the mail soon outlining all the changes, said Wayne Propst, the authority’s director.
“A vast majority (of retirees) could see their costs go down,” he said. “Once members take a look, they’ll see these are still very generous plans, and still a very good plan for a good price.”
But as noted above, while many members may see their premiums go down, a minority of members will see premiums rise.
The reason for that rise in the cost of premiums is that some members were enrolled in the authority’s least-expensive benefits plan, the bronze plan. Now that the Bronze plan is gone, they likely will move into the new Premier, where premiums are costlier, Propst explained to me Wednesday afternoon.
Retirees enrolled in the authority’s more expensive Silver and Gold plans likely will see premiums stay the same or drop, Propst said.
The changes also will affect the deductibles that some members pay, Propst said. The new Premier Plus plan would require a member to pay a $300 deductible and a $3,000 out-of-pocket expense maximum. That compares to the $100 deductible and $2,000 out-of-pocket maximum in the old Gold plan, Propst said.
The new Premier Plus deductible and out-of-pocket maximum compares to the deductible in the old Silver plan, Propst said.
The new Premier plan, which is less expensive than Premier Plus, will have an $800 deductible and a $3,000 out-of-pocket maximum, Propst said.
“Given the envirionment, this is not a seachange for our retirees,” Propst said.
The changes largely affects the authority’s non-Medicare members.
The authority’s members fall into two categories: about 24,000 members who have Medicare supplemental plans; and roughly 15,000 members who have non-Medicare plans.
