When the United States Supreme Court decided United States v. Skrmetti almost two weeks ago, we issued a press release notifying everyone we believed it would result in an order in Kadel v. Folwell, vacating the decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Today, the Supreme Court followed through as we expected. Once the full legal process is finalized in the coming weeks, we anticipate this will lead to the State Health Plan of North Carolina re-implementing the longstanding exclusion on transition-related medical care. Moreover, the Plan will follow all state laws and comply with S.L. 2023-111.
Kadel v. Folwell has always been about one question. Do the people of North Carolina, through their elected representatives, get to ultimately manage the State Health Plan? Or can plaintiffs dictate what procedures we cover? We are gratified that the Supreme Court has agreed with our strongly held belief in the State Health Plan Board of Trustees’ authority in this matter.
More generally, there are two commitments that we have always had that this multi-year process highlights.
Transparency — we will communicate with the people of North Carolina openly, honestly, and on a timely basis.
Consistency — our framework for making decisions at the Department of State Treasurer generally, and in the State Health Plan specifically, is designed to be consistent and robust.
Treasurer Brad Briner and the State Health Plan Board of Trustees have been working to keep the Plan viable for the more than 750,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, and their dependents. To do that, we must consistently ensure that the benefits provided offer the greatest good for the greatest number of members. That philosophy was true when the Board approved the 2026 benefits coverage in May, it will be true when the Board votes on member premiums in August, and it is true today.