Members will recall that, despite earlier hopes, efforts to develop a dental plan for the current fiscal year (2002) fell short. Plans, to offer retiree dental benefits this past July 1, were put off following the results of a GIC study, which showed the cost of such a plan would be unaffordable to most retirees.

Through the study, it was discovered that the vast majority of all retirees across the country are without dental coverage. Those plans, that do exist for retirees, are typically heavily subsidized by the employer and are inclusive of a large number of active employees to offset the costs. When a plan is made available through the GIC, it will be a retiree pay-all plan and not receive a state contribution.

"We have been working on this issue religiously for the past several years. Building a voluntary retiree pay-all plan from scratch has been far more difficult than we had originally thought," explains Association Insurance Coordinator Cheryl Stillman. "I know this is an important issue for a lot of our members. However, it makes no sense to offer a plan that the majority of retirees cannot afford or will not use."

At the completion of last year's feasibility study, the GIC and its consultant (Boston Benefit Partners) determined that the best course of action would be to solicit bids for a retiree dental plan, as part of the contract renewal process for the active employee dental plan. With the employee dental contract set to expire on June 30, the GIC is currently accepting bids for a new carrier.

When the dental contract went out to bid in late October, the GIC included a provision requesting those companies, responding to the bid request, include a proposal for a retiree dental plan along with the active employee plan. While the two pools (active/retired) will remain distinct, the hope is that the two plans will complement each other.

As of presstime in late November, the GIC anticipated a strong response from dental vendors interested in the state contract. GIC staffers were set to immediately begin the review process when the proposals were received in early December.

"From what we have been told, there appears to be a great deal of interest in this type of product. Interestingly, some of the vendors involved in the bidding process have been active in retiree pay-all plans in other states," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "While there are certainly no guarantees that a plan will be able to be developed, the interest we have seen to date is a good sign. We will know more in late winter or early spring."