DOVER — A bill to take Medicare Advantage off the table for pensioner health care coverage became law without Gov. John Carney’s signature Wednesday.
The enactment of House Bill 281 …
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DOVER — A bill to take Medicare Advantage off the table for pensioner health care coverage became law without Gov. John Carney’s signature Wednesday.
The enactment of House Bill 281 comes a day after the term-limited governor vetoed the proposal’s companion, House Bill 282, which would alter the makeup of the State Employee Benefits Committee, the body responsible for selecting coverage plans.
“This is a great victory for Delaware’s retirees, and it just goes to show that you can ‘fight city hall’ and win,” said retired state Sen. Karen Peterson, who serves as a legislative liaison for Retirees Investing in Social Equity Delaware.
The measure resulted from more than 10 months of work by the Retiree Healthcare Benefits Advisory Subcommittee and was introduced by the group’s vice chair Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark, to carry out its first of seven legislative recommendations.
HB 281 follows the subcommittee’s core recommendation of removing Medicare Advantage as an option for retiree health care in the ongoing request for proposals cycle.
The bill was amended once in the House of Representatives and once in the Senate, with those changes allowing Medicare Advantage to be offered as an option to pensioners hired on or after Jan. 1, 2025, and, if such coverage is considered, to require public comment before a vote to select the plan.
Like its companion bill, both measures received unanimous support in each house of the General Assembly throughout its consideration. Lawmakers and retirees have continuously applauded the work of Rep. Baumbach, who has delivered nearly every bill to carry out the recommendations to the governor’s desk.
The subcommittee was established by the legislature in January 2023, just months after an October 2022 Delaware Superior Court decision paused the state’s attempted implementation of a Medicare Advantage plan for pensioner coverage.
The court ruled that the state Department of Human Resources bypassed certain procedures outlined in the state’s Administrative Procedures Act while selecting the Medicare Advantage plan.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware was awarded a three-year contract to administer a state-specific Medicare Advantage plan for Delaware pensioners in February 2022, but in the ensuing months, retirees united to push back on the plan, citing pre-authorizations and the process which the plan was selected.
At the same time, state leaders like Department of Human Resources Secretary Claire DeMatteis touted the plan as comparable to retirees’ existing Medicfill Supplement plan while driving down the state’s $8.9 billion underfunded Other Post-Employment Liability for providing pensioner care.
The lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court was filed by Ms. Peterson, state retiree Thomas Penoza and RISE Delaware; the swiftly formed coalition of thousands of state retirees and Delawareans who fiercely opposed the move to Medicare Advantage and have supported the legislative efforts of the Retiree Healthcare Benefits Advisory Subcommittee since.
“The passage of House Bill 281 guarantees employees and retirees that they will get the benefits they were promised,” said RISE Delaware President and former New Castle County Councilmember Lisa Diller. “We are grateful to Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, Rep. Paul Baumbach, and Sen. Bryan Townsend for their leadership on behalf of the State’s retirees.”
On April 10, Delaware Supreme Court overturned the state Superior Court decision after determining the judge had no jurisdiction to issue the stay. The Supreme Court justices ruled that selection of a plan is not a regulation subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, which was why the judge had no jurisdiction to issue the order.
While the plan’s implementation was halted, it bought time for legislators to establish the Retiree Healthcare Benefits Advisory Subcommittee and for the body to develop its recommendations.
The group studied various aspects of health care coverage while prioritizing the state’s ability to provide benefits in a fiscally sustainable way.
With House Bill 281 now law, the fate of House Bill 282 remains in question. Gov. Carney vetoed the bill Tuesday, but Rep. Baumbach said lawmakers are exploring their options for a potential vote to override the governor’s veto.
A veto override – which requires three-fifths majority support – could come as early as Wednesday. If a motion is considered, an override vote would begin in the House, and if it passes, would head to the Senate. If the override vote is passed with the required support by both houses, the bill would become law.
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