Sen. Frank Blas Jr. is asking for an emergency session so that lawmakers can weigh a one-year delay to the government of Guam’s plans to pay for its own health plan costs in fiscal 2024.
The Office of the Governor recently announced GovGuam would seek self-insurance instead of paying for insurance through private companies.
But Blas, the Republican minority leader, argued in a letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje sent Tuesday that there’s too little information and too high a cost to proceed with the plan.
“What the government intends to provide will have a direct effect on the health insurance for thousands of its employees, retirees and their covered dependents,” Blas wrote.
His Bill 154, which would pause the self-insurance plans for another year, would “provide the ample time needed to build a reserve fund to ensure that money is available to pay claims, ensure that contractual agreements are in place, obtain stop loss insurance … and most importantly give reasonable time for the government to provide information on the plan.”
Bill 154 would allow the current group health plan agreement for fiscal 2023 to rollover until the end of fiscal 2024.
GovGuam health plan members have expressed confusion and uncertainty about the future of their health care, Blas said.
Blas said information provided during last Friday’s informational briefing on the new plan “calls to question the government’s operational and financial ability to proceed” with self-insurance.
Director of Administration Edward Birn, who led health plan negotiations this year, has said self-insurance is expected to cost between $90 million and $110 million annually, with premiums paid by retirees and employees at about $140 million. The purchase of stop-loss insurance would help cover catastrophic losses from the insurance plan once above a certain cutoff.
Health care providers have expressed serious doubts about the government of Guam’s ability to pay on time, even with insurance companies acting as third-party administrators to handle payouts.
