State representatives have tentatively passed a reworked version of a bill that would move oversight of the state health plan from the legislature to the treasurer's office.
Governor Bev Perdue vetoed a bill last week that would have required all members of the plan to pay premiums for the first time. She said it amounted to a tax on teachers, who already rank 45th in the nation in pay. So Republican leaders have reworked the bill to keep active workers from having to pay premiums. Republican representative Jerry Dockham is from Davidson County. He says administrators need to know what's happening with the plan soon.
Jerry Dockham: "It is time sensitive, Friday is the date that we need to have something done, so that the state employee health plan can contact the members of the plan will know what it will look like for the coming year, the premiums and the coverages."
Republican leaders say they want to move the bill to the Senate as quickly as possible. The measure passed 61 to 54 in the House.
