John Hood: Treasurer seeks to reform health plan

John Hood

By John Hood

Pointing to a projected $1 billion budget hole in North Carolina’s health plan for teachers and other public employees by 2027, State Treasurer Brad Briner and his team are implementing an array of program changes and premium hikes. Their response may not be popular among beneficiaries — but reform is essential if the state is to continue providing health benefits at a reasonable cost.

That’s the argument made by Briner and three coauthors — state health plan executive director Thomas Friedman, trustee Brian Miller and policy analyst Emma Turner — in a just-published article for the prominent journal Health Affairs.

“Much of the recent health care discussion around affordability has focused on broken markets, with an aim toward interventionist strategies such as