Articles about the State GIC that may be useful to Massachusetts retirees
Legislature & Governor Take Quick Action to Avoid Premium Spike
March 27, 2018: At the urging of the Group Insurance Commission and Mass Retirees, the State Legislature and Governor Baker worked together to quickly head off a pending nightmare for the 10,000 teachers participating in the state’s Retired Municipal Teacher (RMT) Program.
Urgent legislation required to spare a group of retired public employees, mostly teachers, from a spike in health care costs next year sped through the legislative chambers on Monday and Gov. Charlie Baker quickly signed his name to the bill he filed just over a week ago. The new law will merge roughly 10,000 retirees into the main pool of Group Insurance Commission members, enabling them to avoid cost spikes, according to the governor and GIC officials.
Mass Retirees Joins GIC in Calling For Swift Action
March 20, 2018: The closing minutes of winter 2018 marked a joint effort by the Group Insurance Commission and Mass Retirees to pass emergency legislation to merge the GIC’s two insurance pools.
By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 20, 2018....House and Senate leaders said Tuesday they will try to quickly pass a bill filed by Gov. Charlie Baker, perhaps as soon as this week, in an effort to avoid steep health insurance premium spikes for nearly 1,000 retired teachers and elderly government retirees.
Mass Retirees Urges Quick Action
March 16, 2018: Prompted by Mass Retirees’ calls for reform of the Group Insurance Commission’s Retired Municipal Teacher (RMT) Program, legislation has been filed today by Governor Baker that places RMT enrollees in the same insurance pool (Pool 1) as other state and local retirees. Association officials are now calling upon Legislative Leadership to act quickly on this before the GIC’s Open Enrollment begins on April 4.
The health insurance giant Cigna said on Thursday that it had agreed to buy Express Scripts, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager, in a $52 billion deal that could further reshape the roiling health care landscape.
By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey GLOBE STAFF FEBRUARY 22, 2018
Massachusetts public employees and retirees received an unusual bit of good news from state officials Thursday: their health insurance premiums are not rising significantly — and costs for many will actually decrease.
Many Retirees Will See Lower Premiums
February 22, 2018: Today, the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) approved health plan premiums for FY19. For the first time in recent memory, the average increase across all six GIC health plans is zero percent.
Beginning in June, the majority of retirees enrolled in GIC health plans will see a slight decrease in their monthly insurance premiums. For both retirees and active employees, the inflationary and premium rates vary by health plan.
No Major Increases or Changes Expected
FEBRUARY 21, 2018: The state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) is scheduled to meet this Thursday to set health, life and dental insurance premiums for FY19, which begins on July 1.
On average premium insurances are anticipated to increase less than 2% across the six health insurance providers offered by the GIC. Those providers are Fallon, Harvard Pilgrim, Health New England, Neighborhood Health Plan, Tufts and UniCare.
Teachers’ Program Dates to 1972
Mass Retirees and teacher union officials are urging the GIC to seek ways to expand the health insurance offerings available to the 10,000 teachers participating in the Retired Municipal Teacher (RMT) program. As the only respondent to the GIC’s procurement process last fall, UniCare is set to become the sole health insurance provider for RMTs in FY19.
Since 1968 the Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association has been the leading voice for Massachusetts public retirees and their families. Join with our 52,000 members as we continue the fight.
