This story has been updated
Two bills advocating for state retiree health insurance benefits pass with unanimous bipartisan support in both chambers of the General Assembly, but Gov. John Carney has not commented on if he will sign them into law.
Delaware lawmakers have been working to repeal efforts made by the Carney Administration in 2022 to move state retirees from a Medicare supplement plan to a Medicare Advantage plan.
Retirees argued the new benefits were not what they were originally promised and sued the state for implementing the plan without holding public comment.
The first bill repeals the option of providing health care insurance to state pensioners under Medicare part C, known as a Medicare Advantage plan unless they are employed on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
The second provides extra regulatory and transparency processes to the State Employee Benefits Committee — the body in-charge of choosing state health insurance plans — and their meetings.
Both bills passed in the House in March, but Sen. Majority Leader Bryan Townsend (D-Newark) introduced a new amendment on each of the bills codifying the need for public comment before a new Medicare plan can be adopted.
“The Senate amendment here would basically say that a Medicare Advantage plan for future eligible retirees could not be passed until public comment is afforded at the meeting at which a vote to pursue that plan would occur," Townsend said.
This additional protection comes after the Delaware Supreme Court overruled a Delaware Superior Court decision to halt the state's transition to a Medicare Advantage plan after ruling the state violated the Administrative Procedures Act by not allowing input from state pensioners.
But Justice Abigail LeGrow said in her ruling, writing for a three-judge panel, the choice of a Medicare plan is not subject to the Administrative Procedures Act and therefore does not require public comment.
These two bills would change that, which Sen. Minority leader Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) feels is a necessary adjustment after hearing state retiree concerns while serving on the Retiree Healthcare Benefits Advisory Subcommittee.
“One thing was very clear in listening to the retirees – the people that were affected by the suggested change to Medicare Advantage – they didn’t feel like that process that led up to that was open and transparent enough and that they were heard," Pettyjohn said.
After passing in the Senate, the bills were quickly passed in the House on Thursday with unanimous support.
“This is a bill that we’ve seen before, we’ve passed unanimously. I mean, you can see Senate Amendment 1 finishes what we just saw in House Bill 281 and making sure that there is transparency and make sure the public has a really enforceable say before decisions are made over them," the bills' sponsor State Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-Newark) said.
If Carney opts not to sign the bills when delivered to him, they will become law within 10 days if no action is taken.