Insurer Barred From Idaho Meeting With Retirees

BOISE, Idaho_Department of Administration officials barred an insurance agent from a taxpayer-funded meeting with Idaho government retirees who are being forced to switch from state health insurance to private Medicare supplements.

Meanwhile, three insurers _ Blue Cross of Idaho; United Health Care, which offers plans for AARP; and Regence Blue Shield of Idaho, where Department of Administration Director Mike Gwartney was on the board through 2006 _ were allowed into Wednesday's meeting in Pocatello.

Teresa Luna, Gwartney's chief of staff, said Idaho has long worked with the three companies and opted to exclude others from the sessions being held across the state, including Thursday in Idaho Falls, for fear they'd devolve into marketing events for those hawking Medicare supplements.

Providers of similar Medicare plans contend state favoritism puts them at a disadvantage.

Kathe Warner, the agent, attended the first of two meetings Wednesday in a Pocatello motel conference room, but afterward was told by state benefits manager Cynthia Ness not to return for the second. Warner contends she wasn't trying to promote Medicare plans offered by firms such as Florida-based Pyramid Life Insurance Co., which she sells.

"It was just to make sure they (retirees) knew there were other companies out there," Warner said. "I told them 'You're all very unique, and you all have different needs that can all be satisfied in different ways.' "

About 3,200 Medicare-eligible state government retirees are being pushed off the state health plan Jan. 1 by a law passed in the 2009 Legislature meant to save Idaho millions. Many private Medicare supplements are cheaper than the state plan, though some retired Idaho workers will pay thousands more than they do now for prescription drugs.

Warner attended the Pocatello meeting on the recommendation of the Idaho Public Employees Association, which is concerned retirees aren't getting all the information.

"They are promoting these three companies to the exclusion of all the others and not allowing the seniors to hear about other options that may work better for them," said Donna Yule, the association's director.

This is the second time in recent months Gwartney's agency has been at the center of a state insurance dispute. In May, he angered part-time state workers by announcing plans to boost premiums as much as fourfold to help save Idaho $10 million.

Gwartney couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Luna contends Warner spoke up more than once during the question-and-answer portion of Wednesday's meeting.

"I thought it best that she be asked to leave," Luna said.

Luna said she'd already told roughly 60 attendees there were Medicare options beyond those offered by Blue Cross, United Health Care and Regence. She'd also pointed out representatives of the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Advisors, the federally funded outfit that advises on all Medicare options, were there to help.

The three companies have a limited role in the sessions, Luna said, answering questions state employees can't.

"They aren't allowed to sell products or hand out anything, unless a retiree requests it," she said. "These are not marketing meetings."

The three companies already enjoy advantages in securing business from retirees switching from the state insurance plan to private Medicare supplements.

For instance, retirees who buy a Blue Cross, United Health Care or Regence Medicare supplement can apply unused sick leave benefits to cover premiums. They can also have premiums deducted from their state pensions.

But retirees who opt for a plan offered by one of dozens of competing companies don't have these options.

"I don't know that it's in the interest of steering business to these three companies," said Luna, adding she expects the list of insurers where Idaho retirees will be able to use unused sick leave to cover premiums or have premiums deducted from their pension account will be expanded by year's end.

Warner's boss, Floyd Hutchens, an insurance agent in Boise, has asked Idaho to enlarge that list for months, so far without success. With between 47 and 51 different Medicare prescription drug plans offered in each of Idaho's 44 counties, he contends it shouldn't be restricted to three.

"We've been asking that question since last winter: How do we become one of the three?" Hutchens said. "It ought to be open to everybody."