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 …
Despite vehement opposition from a state retirees’ group, a bill that would add retirees to committees that help determine health care options overwhelmingly passed the Senate Wednesday, just moments after it had cleared a committee hearing. Voting against it were three Republican senators. Senate Bill 29, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, would give retirees a voice by …
Click on the image below to view the PDF This Week’s Top Headlines Include: Community Tate Museum exhibit to travel to Delaware Art Museum in 2023 How to vote in Delaware’s Nov. 8 general election McConnells give Ursuline $1.75 million to keep growing DelShakes’ bilingual musical ‘Twelfth Night’ ends this weekend Business Low-cost carrier Avelo to begin flying out of …
The state’s plan to transition state government retirees’ health insurance from original Medicare to a privately-managed Medicare Advantage plan has been temporarily blocked. A Delaware Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered the state to halt implementation of the plan until the case is fully adjudicated. The court will schedule a trial to make a final determination on the fate of …
In response to protests by state government retirees who say they were left in the dark over a significant change to their health insurance, the General Assembly unveiled a bill Monday aimed at creating additional oversight. The House of Representatives and Senate will hold a special session in Dover on Oct. 26 to debate and vote on the bill. Pensioners …
Delaware state government retirees gathered in Wilmington Tuesday with a message for Gov. John Carney and his political appointees: “Keep your hands off our Medicare.” The crowd of mostly senior citizens planned to protest outside the Carvel State Office Building, where the governor, attorney general and New Castle County lawmakers have offices. Rain forced them indoors to the city and …
A group of Delaware state government retirees and pensioners has filed suit against two government officials tasked with implementing a change in their health insurance coverage. RISE Delaware, an organization formed after state officials announced a plan to transition retirees to a Medicare Advantage program, filed the lawsuit in the Delaware Superior Court. RISE hopes to stop the transition to …
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has agreed to delay the prior authorization requirement on state retirees’ new Medicare Advantage health insurance plan by four months. The announcement, made before a crowd of state retirees and pensioners, drew laughs and jeers from the crowd gathered at Goldey Beacom College in Pike Creek Valley. “How about delay it by 40 years,” one …
A change to the health insurance held by retirees of Delaware’s state government is causing an uproar. The state’s requirement that retirees and pensioners switch from original Medicare to a specially-tailored Medicare Advantage plan has led to charges that retirees will lose their doctors or be denied services that are currently covered. That’s not true, said Delaware Secretary of Human …
Two Delaware hospital systems and an insurance company plan to offer a Medicare Advantage insurance plan. Photo by Roger Brown/Pexels Two Delaware healthcare systems and an insurance company plan to form a Medicare Advantage product together to sell in 2022. ChristianaCare, which dominates health care in Delaware and particularly New Castle County, Bayhealth, which offers services primarily in Kent …
