Editor’s note: Haverhill city employees are among those that rely on the state Group Insurance Commission for health insurance coverage. The prospect of the system running out of money alarmed employees who contacted WHAV.
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service
Gov. Maura Healey gets 10 days to act on legislation that reaches her desk, but she used no more than four hours of that time to sign the Group Insurance Commission financing bill sent to her Thursday afternoon.
Healey’s office said around 4:15 p.m. that she signed the bill, appropriating $240 million to cover claims for the rest of the fiscal year at the GIC, which oversees health insurance for 460,000 public employees.
The House passed the bill Monday, the Senate followed suit Thursday and the two branches coordinated to get it to Healey’s desk shortly after noon Thursday.
The agency flagged weeks ago that it was on track to run out budgeted funds to pay claims on May 12 and Healey sought the funding as part of a $756 million request she filed in early April. The remainder of that bill is still pending.
In January, GIC Executive Director Matthew Veno highlighted the agency’s budget shortfalls as a going concern.
“This is the largest variance that we’ve seen in at least a decade, and this is consistent across all of our plans, and is driven primarily by rising provider prices and a couple of other topics,” he said at the time. He added, “We don’t know where this is going to head. My concern is that it is a persistent and steady trend going forward.”
Last month, he said the higher fiscal 2025 costs have already been taken into account for the agency’s fiscal 2026 budget request. The GIC’s “plan premium and costs” are projected at $2.16 billion for fiscal 2025 and Healey requested a $2.4 billion allocation for fiscal 2026, a funding level also recommended in the House budget and by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.