Arlington's Sen Friedman Co-Chairs Insurance Oversight Hearing

From the Office of Sen. Cindy Friedman: Senator Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington), as the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service, joined several colleagues in presiding over an oversight hearing to review the Group Insurance Commission’s (GIC) vote to limit the number of health plans available for thousands of state employees, retirees, and their dependents.

“When you are tasked with making the decision about what type of healthcare coverage will be offered to hundreds of thousands of state employees,” Friedman said, “transparency is paramount. Without it, how do we know that the members are being protected? How do we know it’s going to be affordable and accessible? How can you tell us that people are going to have access to their providers and doctors?”

Chaired by Senator Spilka, the oversight hearing on Jan. 31 included testimony from a variety of individuals, including active GIC members, labor union representatives, members of the healthcare community, appointed members of the Group Insurance Commission, and elected officials.

Group Insurance Commission executive director Roberta Herman testified for nearly an hour, explaining the process the commission followed that led to the Jan.18 8-5 vote to cut health care options in half.

During Herman’s testimony, senators raised a number of concerns regarding the Jan. 18 vote, including the lack of transparency leading up to the vote, the lack of sufficient opportunities for the public to provide input, the focus on cost-shifting rather than on providing quality care, and the failure to account for the impact of potential job loss in Massachusetts as a result of reducing the number of healthcare carriers.

Frustrated by the GIC’s lack of transparency, Friedman told Herman that the Group Insurance Commission needs to "take a hard look at how they can rebuild trust with its members." Friedman recently filed legislation (SD.2500) that would require the GIC to give the Legislature 90 days’ notice before making any major health insurance changes.

Herman acknowledged that the process the commission followed was flawed and said that she, in coordination with members of the board, would look for ways to improve the process in the future to better communicate with its members.

According to Herman, the GIC will search for ways to amend its internal and external decision-making process to allow for increased public participation and feedback.

At its monthly meeting on Feb.1, the Group Insurance Commission voted to reverse its initial decision to reduce the number of healthcare carriers offered to its members from six to three. A subsequent vote was then taken to restore the original six healthcare carriers.

“I’m very pleased to hear that the GIC voted to reverse its rollback of health plans for state employees and retirees,” said Friedman. “This would not have been possible without the fierce efforts by the public who shared their stories about how this change could have drastically impacted their lives. When we stand up, speak out, and advocate for what’s right, we have the power to make a real difference.”

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