House Committee Releases Two Bills Addressing Healthcare Benefits for Retirees
Two bills aimed at addressing the concerns of Delaware state retirees and improving the transparency and fairness in the State’s selection of retiree healthcare plans were released from the House Administration Committee today. Taken together, HB 281 and HB 282, both sponsored by Rep. Paul Baumbach, would prohibit the state from considering Medicare Advantage plans for state retirees and make several changes to the State Employee Benefit Committee (SEBC), the group responsible for managing State employee and retiree benefit coverage.
Additional Information from the Delaware House of Representatives:
HB 281, also known as The Delaware Medicare Supplement Selection Act, would repeal the option of providing health care insurance to state pensioners under Medicare Advantage Plans. would address the concerns of retirees by requiring that the State select only Medicare Supplement plans as the healthcare plan for Medicare eligible Delaware state retirees, rather than a Medicare Advantage plan which requires retirees to relinquish the Traditional Medicare benefits they earned during their careers.
A companion measure, HB 282, would revise the membership, structure, and procedures of the SEBC to increase transparency and accountability. The bill aims to increase transparency by requiring more decisions to be made publicly, requiring the chair or vice chair to attend meetings in person, requiring committee votes for Request for Proposals (RFPs) selecting health care insurance plans, and requiring more information from the committee to be available publicly. HB 282 would also increase retiree representation in the SEBC by requiring the Speaker of the House and the Senate Pro Tempore to appoint State retirees to the committee.
