The vote had been scheduled for the September meeting of the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), but was pushed back to the October 20 meeting. GIC officials cited the need to finalize proposals received from insurance carriers as the reason for the delay.

However, the current position of the Romney/Healey Administration remains unknown. Earlier this year, Administration officials openly opposed increasing the life benefit for retirees.

In other developments, the GIC is developing a plan to promote the use of the mail order drug program run for so-called maintenance drugs. Currently, only 23% of GIC enrollees utilize the mail order program operated by Express Scripts. With as many as 40% of enrollees taking maintenance drugs, the GIC could save up $9 million annually.

“Even though members benefit by using mail order, many still don’t feel comfortable with it. The GIC is working to change that,” comments Insurance Coordinator Cheryl Stillman.