State Health Plan Outlines 2025 Highlights, Lays Out Strategies, Challenges for 2026

The State Health Plan (Plan) has completed a difficult year, but now is projecting that the massive deficit it was facing on Jan. 1 has been addressed. Today the State Health Plan (Plan) Board of Trustees heard from Plan staff and consultants on where things stand now and strategies underway for 2026. 

“2025, I think we all knew, would be a tough year. There were a lot of challenges the State Health Plan faced, and I think staff and the board have done a fantastic job addressing those head on,” said State Treasurer Brad Briner, who chairs the Plan’s Board of Trustees. “This was a true team effort, with legislators and providers working with us to get us back on track.”

“2026 is going to be a more challenging year. We have a lot of big, ambitious goals for the year to improve the health of Plan members,” said Thomas Friedman, Plan executive administrator. His top two goals for 2026 are to work on provider strategies and focus on expanding specialty care to make high-quality, lower-cost services more available to all Plan members.

With 70% of Plan members experiencing chronic health conditions, the Plan will continue to focus on long-term treatment to address obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart conditions, which are big cost drivers. As part of ongoing efforts to keep Plan members healthy at all stages of life, there will also be a new effort make OB-GYN care more accessible.

The board was briefed on the progress of Lantern, which is building a network of surgical providers; Hinge Health, a digital exercise therapy program; and Hello Heart, a digital heart preventative health program.

Segal Consulting also presented a 2024 Population Risk Report identifying prevalent and emerging health risks and outlining cost-control opportunities while improving the health of Plan members, and another report outlining the Plan’s financial condition and projections for coming years.

Materials are posted to the Plan’s website.