Another week passed with both Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican leaders in the legislature unable to reach a compromise on the state budget. The House signaled earlier in the week that it would take a vote to override Cooper’s veto, but that did not occur. For more on SEANC’s take on the budget and other issues, watch the video above.

SEANC continues to ask lawmakers to override the veto and conclude this impasse. WE NEED YOUR HELP. We need members to come to the legislature Monday afternoon to talk to your representatives about the budget! If you are free, please click here to let us know.

Hospital executive goes on profanity-laced tirade

The state’s hospital executives are feeling the pressure on possibly denying care to state employees and retirees.

That pressure boiled over this week into a profanity-laced tirade from a Cone Health executive Frank Kauder aimed at State Treasurer Dale Folwell and the State Health Plan Board of Trustees.

Cone Health is the largest system to publicly announce it would no longer treat state employees and retirees as “in-network” after Jan. 1, 2020. CEO Terry Akin asked its employees to reach out to Folwell and other lawmakers to stop the Clear Pricing Project, saying it will cost Cone Health $26 million annually.

Cone Health has a reserve of $1.1 billion, and will lose much more than $26 million if state employees and retirees are forced to go elsewhere for care.

The truth is, Akin and other hospital executives are afraid the Clear Pricing Project will work, and reference-based pricing will become the norm, bringing much-needed reforms by increasing transparency and savings to health care.

We need you to continue to reach out to your local hospitals to ask if they plan to accept the State Health Plan in 2020. Click here for a list of hospitals’ contact information, and after your call, email us at info@seanc.org to let us know how the discussion went.