North Carolina Business Coalition on Health

NC State Health Plan Announce 2020 Network to Include Hospitals

The North Carolina State Health Plan “Clear Pricing Project” deadlines for contracting providers under the new percent of Medicare plan have now passed.  The good news — 28,000 providers, including independent primary care providers, behavioral health providers, independent provider networks and 5 “courageous” hospitals joined the plan.  The bad news — Of 126 hospitals in North Carolina, ONLY those 5 hospitals signed up.  

As a result, in order to continue to provide state employees with hospital access, State Health Plan employees will have access in 2020 to the BCBS NC Blue Options network in addition to those providers contracted through the Clear Pricing Project.  

According to a press release by the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, the project had been met with opposition from the North Carolina Health Care Association which a included a multi-million dollar “dark money” campaign under the auspices of Partners for Innovation in Health Care.

“By spending millions of dollars to oppose us and by using cartel-like tactics, these organizations were able to convince most hospitals to boycott the State Health Plan,” said Treasurer Folwell. “If big hospitals could do this to their largest customer, just think what they can do to the individual average citizen or business. We’re in a medical arms race in North Carolina. Every dollar unnecessarily or inefficiently spent on health care is a dollar that can never be spent on education and other core functions of government.”

See the full press release by clicking here

Treasurer Folwell is set to speak with NCBGH members regarding the project at the NCBGH Fall Meeting to be held October 4.