Blue Cross appeals NC’s decision to hire Aetna as new health plan administrator [The Charlotte Observer]

Blue Cross NC, a Durham-based insurance company that has long administered North Carolina’s State Health Plan, filed a protest Thursday appealing the state’s decision to replace it with Aetna.

The protest claims North Carolina’s request for proposals, or RFP, “represented a significant departure from the State Health Plan’s previous procurement and contracting process,” Sara Lang, Blue Cross NC’s principal communications advisor, said in a news release.

The company further accused the state of making its decision based on “limited information and arbitrary scoring.”

“Blue Cross NC is proud of our long record of serving North Carolina’s teachers, state employees, first responders, county and city employees, and their families,” said Dr. Tunde Sotunde, Blue Cross NC’s president and CEO, in the release. “State Health Plan members are more than customers, they are our neighbors, our friends and our family, and we have filed this protest to ensure the best outcome for them, for taxpayers, and for our state.”

READ MORE: What NC teachers, state employees, retirees need to know about the health insurance change

North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell announced the State Health Board’s decision Jan. 4 to replace Blue Cross with Aetna. The decision evoked immediate consternation and speculation from many state employees as to whether the move was in their best interests.

But Folwell argued the shift would save money and improve health care access for state workers.

“Partnering with Aetna, which already employs over 10,000 people in North Carolina, will create a lot of new opportunities for the Plan and the members we serve,” he said in a release. “A change of this magnitude is a great opportunity for a fresh perspective, and we look forward to working closely with Aetna to create new ways to provide price transparency, increase access and quality while lowering the cost of health care for those who teach, protect and serve, and taxpayers like them.”

Following Blue Cross NC’s formal protest, the state can either choose to accept the company’s request for a meeting, or deny the appeal within 10 days, according to the RFP.

“If the protest meeting is granted, the Executive Administrator will attempt to schedule the meeting within 30 calendar days after receipt of the letter, or as soon as possible thereafter,” the RFP says. “Within 10 calendar days from the date of the protest meeting, the Executive Administrator will respond to Vendor in writing with the Executive Administrator’s decision.”

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