Articles about Health Insurance that may be useful to Massachusetts retirees
March 31, 2023: It is very hard to believe that today is the end of March. For what is normally the longest month of the year, time has flown by so far in 2023!
April represents the start of what will be a four-month sprint, before the August summer legislative recess. And in just four weeks’ time, the House of Representative will have finalized its version of the FY24 State Budget – in which we are making every effort to include a State and Teacher retiree COLA base increase.
Expands Pension Funding & Proposes 3% COLA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2023: Governor Maura Healey has filed her first state budget proposal, formally kicking off the FY24 budget process.
The $55.5 billion “spending blueprint” focuses on taming the high cost of living in Massachusetts, while investing heavily in the state’s future. This includes a new three-year appropriation schedule for the Commonwealth’s Pension Liability Fund, which funds both the State and Teachers’ Retirement Systems.
INCLUDES MEDICARE & NON-MEDICARE PLANS
DECEMBER 15, 2022: The Group Insurance Commission held the final monthly commission meeting of the year on December 15th. A major piece of business on the agenda was the selection of Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM).
October 21, 2022: Thursday brought some highly anticipated news to the 460,000 enrollees covered by the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC). After months of closed-door work to review and score the winning bids from respondents through the procurement process, the GIC unveiled the 4 Medicare and 7 non-Medicare health insurance plans to be offered starting in FY24.
The U.S. Senate passed a historic budget bill on Aug. 7 that would help millions of Medicare enrollees better afford their life-sustaining medications and help millions more Americans pay their Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance premiums. The measure must now be approved by the House of Representatives before going to the president's desk.
Weekly Update 4/8/2022: It is always a great day when we can share good news with our members. Since I have two pieces of very positive news to share, I suppose it makes today exceptionally good!
Weekly Update 4/1/2022: Every five years the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) is required to rebid all health insurance, pharmacy, dental, and life insurance contracts. FY23, which begins July 1, 2022, marks the final year of the current 5-year contract cycle for all GIC health insurance and pharmaceutical drug plans.
Today we anticipate the release of the first component of the GIC’s FY24 procurement – the Request for Response (RFR) for the health insurance plans. The pharmacy plan RFR will be released in early June.
The Shift to Whole Person Health
March 2022 Voice:
As healthcare costs have continued to rise, a major focus of Mass Retirees has been to look for and promote new ideas and solutions aimed at maintaining our members’ health while taking steps to keep insurance costs down.
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.
