Topics Related to OST Press Release
On behalf of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer I would like to extend congratulations to Treasurer-elect Brad Briner for his election as the 29th State Treasurer of North Carolina. I wish him success in his future endeavors with the Department of State Treasurer. Our hearts, minds and doors will be open to Treasurer-elect Briner as we move forward with the transition of administrations. The staff and I will be available to him to answer any questions and assist with the move-in process.
I concur with the Governor’s emergency executive order extending additional benefits to areas hit the hardest by Hurricane Helene. While natural disasters are nothing new in North Carolina, they always present new opportunities to learn important lessons. I recommend that the Governor, working with local, state and federal officials and agencies, resolve to more clearly define and identify areas that are most impacted by this and future disasters.
Our prayers, hearts and minds go out to the people of Western North Carolina who are reeling from the historic damage done to them by Hurricane Helene. This once-in-a-lifetime tragedy demands that we all pull together to help each other during this unprecedented time. The staff of the Department of State Treasurer, including the State Health Plan, the Retirement Systems Division and the State and Local Government Finance Division are all working to make sure that we support the people in that region of the state with every resource that we can provide.
I am glad that Atrium is finally doing the right thing by cancelling medical debt and the punishing liens they have put on people’s homes. Unfortunately, it comes after many lives have already been ruined and thousands were thrown into generational poverty. It also took a big government payout in the form of hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars being funneled to the hospital cartel to do what they should already have been doing – providing charity care equal to the value of their $1.8 billion in tax breaks.
Agency Praises NC as 'one of the strongest states according to every measure.'
“We appreciate the support nearly half of the states have shown by filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision. Our position remains unchanged. State governing bodies are best equipped to evaluate health care coverage that provides the greatest good to the highest number of people. They, and not the courts, are the proper place to make such decisions.”
We are pleased that Blue Cross NC is choosing not to appeal the well-reasoned opinion of Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter of the Office of Administrative Hearings. The members of the State Health Plan and taxpayers like them deserve to have this uncertainty ended. We will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of improving benefits for teachers and state employees in a cost-effective manner for taxpayers.
From the beginning, it has been clear that the State Health Plan (Plan) performed a well-reasoned, high-integrity, and correct procurement process for third-party administrative services. This process clearly revealed that Aetna’s bid was superior to Blue Cross NC’s, and the Plan’s Board of Trustees properly approved the contract’s award to Aetna. As Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter said in her opinion:
We are glad that the Department of Health and Human Services and the governor have finally recognized my pro-family initiative to help prevent medical debt from decimating the finances of North Carolina families. The best and most simple way that our new allies can be helpful in this fight is to immediately support the Medical Debt De-Weaponization Act that passed the Senate unanimously and is only one vote short from passing the House.
As keeper of the public purse, I have done my best to safeguard taxpayer money and to prudently use — not abuse — state resources. I learned just yesterday that a state agency investigator believed it necessary to obtain search warrants to look into use of my assigned state vehicle for the many public functions I routinely perform throughout the state, all of which are purposefully planned to accomplish the maximum job duties possible during the trips. I have tried to be very careful in following published guidance — including written communications from the N.C.