Humana Advantage Plan members in North Carolina will no longer be in network with Raleigh-based WakeMed and Greenville-based ECU Health, according to an Oct. 19 report from CBS affiliate WNCT.
The Humana Medicare Advantage Plan is the state health plan offered to retirees. Members will no longer have in-network access to the two systems beginning Oct. 30.
"This negotiating is still going on. But based on the Herculean efforts of the state health plan working with Humana, we now have confirmation that those we have responsibility for, who teach protect and otherwise serve, who are retired, there will be no change in their coverage," Dale Folwell, North Carolina's treasurer, told WNCT.
ECU Health also released a statement reassuring state retirees that they will not face penalties for seeking care from out-of-network providers.
While state retirees will see no difference in their benefits, non-state retirees on Humana's Medicare Advantage Plan, ECU Health and WakeMed will be out of network as of Jan. 1.