In response to multiple inquiries from employees of the government of Guam, retirees and their families, Tina Muña Barnes, chairwoman of the legislative committee of human resources, called for an informational hearing on Aug. 18 regarding GovGuam’s proposal for fully self-insuring its group health plan.

The hearing also addressed Bill 154-37, which was proposed by Sens. Frank Blas Jr. and Chris Duenas to extend the current GovGuam Group Health Plan to Sept. 30, 2024.

“While I understand the need for our government to be fiscally prudent, I also understand that our community is unfortunately reliant on their health insurance plans,” said Barnes in her opening statement. “It is important to many of them that they maintain their care with their existing providers. I hope to not create another health crisis in our community from being underinsured.”

Despite the plan being promoted on “lower premiums,” a decrease would only be seen by those already with SelectCare.

Those who are currently with FHP’s TakeCare would see a slight increase within three to five percent, according to Edward Birn, Director of the Department of Administration.

Director Edward Birn, who represented the Department of Administration, noted that this has been a plan that has been thought out and can be attributed to the strength of GovGuam’s current finances.

“We tried to come up with a plan, which is economical and provides the best benefits to employees and retirees,” said Birn. “We won’t alter the schedule of benefits or the actual plans offered.”

Birn clarified that the plan will extend to all government employees and retirees, including those under autonomous agencies, with the exception of active employees under the judiciary.

As the plan is still being developed and final rates have not been publicized yet under this plan, Dr. Thomas Shieh, who has previously announced he will not accept the plan with GovGuam, noted in his approval of Bill 154-37 that there’s no harm on putting a pause on the self-insurance.

“Take this coming year to give yourselves more time over the next 10 to 12 months to build up funds and bring providers to a possible roundtable,” noted Shieh. “A health insurance plan is no good without somebody to provide that care. If you go to Calvo’s, you won’t have access to FHP clinics.”

Dr. Hoa Nguyen, a co-founder of American Medical Center, also stated to the committee that there have still been more questions than answers regarding the plan, so his clinics have not yet firmly decided whether to accept or not the self-insurance plan.

“The mistrust is with GovGuam. I learned from GovGuam one thing: if you don’t have in black and white, you can’t take anyone’s word for it,” stated Nguyen. “The federal government will not step in and rescue Guam on the health care. You’re going to need a lot more planning because with every question tonight, you don’t have a firm answer.”

Nguyen further echoed Shieh’s sentiment to delay the self-insurance because there’s still a lot of work to do for both the government and the clinics.

Blas has since issued a letter on Tuesday to Speaker Therese Terlaje as a request for an emergency session for the legislature to decide on his Bill 154-37.

Blas noted the bill will provide the ample time needed to build a reserve fund to ensure that money is available to pay claims, ensure that contractual agreements are in place and obtain stop-loss insurance that may be needed to cover claims above collected amounts.

The bill is also intended to give reasonable time for the government to provide information on the plan to the employees and retirees due to possible confusion and uncertainty about the future of their healthcare, according to Blas.

On Aug. 18, the Office of the Governor of Guam also provided answers to possible questions regarding the self-insured health plan.

The governor’s office clarified that it will now be the government to assume the financial risk of providing healthcare benefits to its employees by paying for each out-of-pocket claim as it is incurred instead of paying a fixed premium to an insurance carrier.

They also clarified that current TakeCare members will not need complete enrollment forms since they are not being offered due to automatic enrollment in SelectCare for medical and NetCare for dental under the same plan and class. Those under TakeCare should visit the Calvo’s SelectCare provider directory to ensure they can still get care, which can be found here.

More questions and answers can be found on the governor’s website here.