By Joseph Edelen

DOVER — Leadership in the House of Representatives extended unanimous support Wednesday for two bills that aim to rebuild trust with Delaware retirees following the near-implementation of a Medicare Advantage plan in 2022.

That plan was halted by Delaware Superior Court in October that year, spurring the creation of the Retiree Health Benefits Advisory Subcommittee in January 2023. That group spent nearly a year crafting legislative recommendations for the next steps in state retiree health care.

Rep. Paul Baumbach, D-Newark, served as the subcommittee’s co-vice chair and has now introduced two measures to put some of its suggestions into action.

House Bill 281 follows the group’s core recommendation: repealing Medicare Advantage as an option for providing health care insurance to state pensioners.

Known as the Delaware Medicare Supplement Selection Act, the bill has the support of approximately 70% of House lawmakers and 80% of senators, Rep. Baumbach said in front of the House Administration Committee on Wednesday.

“It takes it off the table because it is my firm belief, … my sincere belief, that Medicare Advantage cannot be provided to Delaware state retirees responsibly by the state,” he continued. “Medicare Advantage, structurally, is not a benefit you provide as a past employer.”

While lawmakers briefly referenced two pending amendments to the measure — which won’t be debated until it reaches a floor vote — members of the public pushed back on one offered by House Minority Whip Lyndon Yearick, R-Magnolia.

The amendment would allow Medicare Advantage to be offered as an option for pensioners who retire on or after Jan. 1, 2028. Rep. Yearick noted that the spirit of the proposal is to provide options to current and future employees.

But former state Sen. Karen Peterson, legal liaison for Retirees Investing in Social Equity Delaware and a plaintiff in the ongoing legal battle against the implementation of Medicare Advantage, had a different take.

“For those who say that state retirees should have a choice, they already have a choice. Any retiree can opt out of Medicare during open enrollment and go get a free Medicare Advantage plan on the open market,” she said.

Also providing comment was the Office of Management and Budget’s director, Cerron Cade, who recognized that the subcommittee did its work to address retirees’ concerns but noted that the long-term issue — the state’s $8.9 billion other post-employment benefits liability for providing health care — has not been fixed.

“I think it’s important that we recognize that we have not addressed the long-term issue, the sustainability of our current process in providing health care to state employees and retirees,” he said. “And so, until we’re able to solve that problem, we have not eliminated the strain … when it comes to insurance sustainability.”

Meanwhile, a companion bill, House Bill 282, also garnered feedback from Department of Human Resources secretary Claire DeMatteis, who serves as co-chair of the State Employee Benefits Committee.

The proposal would alter the makeup of the committee by naming the human resources secretary a nonvoting member, thus replacing the authority of the chair with the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

It also would add state retirees to the committee but, instead of being appointed by the governor, they would be selected by legislative leaders.

HB 282 also would require approval of requests for proposals related to state health plans to be held in a public meeting and would create a mandate for the Human Resources Department to notify all pensioners of changes to their plans.

Rep. Baumbach said, as a result of the ongoing legal battle related to Medicare Advantage, it was discovered that there was no clause in Delaware law that required such notice.

Together, he said, the bill will provide transparency in the group’s work and add independence on the committee from the governor’s administration — measures that will help restore the lost faith and trust of retirees.

However, Ms. DeMatteis outlined “five significant statutory conflicts and structural problems” with the bill.

These include the gradual dilution of Senate-confirmed officials on the committee, which has grown from six to nine and now 11 members since its creation in 1999, and that the act conflicts with the secretary’s authority regarding the selection of health benefits.

Another concern is staffing issues created by making the Department of Human Resources a nonvoting member and the Office of Management and Budget director the chair.

The State Employee Benefits Committee is staffed by the Statewide Benefits Office, which is under the department’s purview. This, Ms. DeMatteis said, would violate merit rules because these employees do not report to the budget director.

The secretary also took issue with the removal of the controller general from the committee, as it would take away the legislative branch’s involvement, as well as clauses limiting the use of designees to sit in for committee members.

Despite these concerns, lawmakers moved forward with the proposals, passing both bills unanimously.

They await further consideration on the House floor, where Rep. Baumbach’s and Rep. Yearick’s amendments to HB 281 will be discussed.