If You Can Buy it Cheaper, You Should Retired Public Workers Will Save Nearly $3 Million on Dental and Vision Coverage, Rate Negotiations Result in Lower Premiums for Retirees for Next Two Years

(Raleigh, N.C.) – State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA announced today that retired teachers, law enforcement officers and other public workers will save $3 million over the next two years on their dental and vision coverage. The N.C. Department of State Treasurer and Pierce Insurance completed a successful contract renegotiation with UnitedHealthCare that reduced premiums for 2019 and 2020. The savings that will be passed on to state and local government retirees totals more than $1.2 million for 2019 and more than $1.5 million for 2020, with the possibility of additional savings in the future.

“Every penny counts for retirees, and I encourage the public workers who served our state to take advantage of the cheaper premiums," said State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA. “We will continue to find every opportunity to renegotiate contracts that reduce costs for current and retired employees and North Carolina taxpayers like them."

Supplemental vision and dental insurance is available to employees while they are working for a state or local government employer, but those benefits are no longer available after they retire. To help bridge that gap, the N.C. Department of State Treasurer uses its buying power to negotiate lower rates on behalf of retirees.  Those rates are consistently lower than retirees can typically find elsewhere and there is no fee to participate. 

The reduced dental and vision premiums are the latest step Treasurer Folwell has taken to reduce health care costs for state and local government workers. Folwell announced in July that the State Health Plan, a division of the N.C. Department of State Treasurer, will freeze 2019 premiums for families and individuals, saving them nearly $40 million. In May, the State Health Plan saved $55 million by renegotiating rates for Medicare-eligible retirees enrolled in the Group Medicare Advantage Plans.