News
State Health Plan expands no-cost surgeries through Novant deal
2+ hour, 52+ min ago (520+ words) Hundreds of thousands of North Carolina State Health Plan (NCSHP) members across the state will soon have access to no-cost, high-quality surgical care. Through the SHP's Lantern surgical benefit, members can receive surgical services at numerous'Novant Health locations across the…...
NC debt affordability report highlights strong fiscal health
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (515+ words) North Carolina remains in a strong financial position, with strong borrowing capacity over the next 10 years, thanks in part to reduced overall debt service payments with the refunding of bonds, said State Treasurer's Office at a recent meeting on debt....
Court filing cites $3B cost of retirees’ State Health Plan demands
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (1165+ words) Listen to this story (15 minutes) A 14-year-old lawsuit from North Carolina state government retirees could cost the State Health Plan more than $3 billion if plaintiffs are successful. The plan's lawyers delivered that warning Tuesday to the state Supreme Court. State…...
State Health Plan back in the black after major deficit
3+ mon, 3+ day ago (847+ words) After facing a substantial deficit for 2026 and 2027, the North Carolina State Health Plan (SHP) now has a surplus, thanks to an increase in premiums, funding from the General Assembly, and other cost-cutting measures. Friedman said their trend this year is…...
State Health Plan responds to recent ruling in transgender care case
4+ mon, 3+ week ago (857+ words) The North Carolina State Health Plan announced Wednesday the reinstatement of its "longstanding exclusion of transition-related treatments" typically sought by transgender patients. The announcement arrived on the same day a court case challenging the exclusion officially returned to a federal…...
NC program wipes out $6.5B in medical debt for 2.5M residents
4+ mon, 3+ week ago (478+ words) More than $6.5 billion in medical debt has been eliminated for over 2.5 million North Carolinians in the past year, according to Gov. Josh Stein, who made the announcement Monday, along with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) Secretary…...
Contingency plan set for state workers affected by Aetna-Duke negotiations
5+ mon, 1+ week ago (803+ words) In the wake of ongoing negotiations between Duke Health and Aetna, the North Carolina State Health Plan Board of Trustees on Friday approved procuring a transition services vendor to help plan members find new health care providers if an agreement…...
Duke Health: Requested Aetna rate hike would have small impact on state workers
5+ mon, 1+ week ago (760+ words) In an emailed statement to Carolina Journal on Friday, Duke Health said it is "actively engaged in good faith negotiations" with health insurance company Aetna, in response to a story that many patients, including over 750,000 state employees covered under the…...
Duke–Aetna dispute could raise premiums, cut coverage for NC's state employees
5+ mon, 2+ week ago (933+ words) Listen to this story (9 minutes) The clock is ticking on negotiations between health insurance company Aetna and Duke Health, which says that unless Aetna raises its reimbursement rates, many patients will lose in-network coverage to Duke's doctors, hospitals, clinics, and…...
Premium increases ahead for State Health Plan members
6+ mon, 3+ week ago (653+ words) In a much anticipated move the State Health Plan Board of Trustees voted'unanimously'to approve premium increases'for the more than 750,000 members of the State Health Plan (SHP) on Friday.' In February the board met to try and find a solution to…...