Moore County reviews health insurance RFP after First Carolina Care exits commercial market

Moore County officials and outside benefits consultants reviewed responses to the county's health insurance request for proposals during an afternoon work session and said First Carolina Care has withdrawn its bid after announcing it was exiting the commercial market.

Marilyn McKinney, Moore County risk and benefits manager, introduced consultants from National Insurance Services, who described the evaluation of medical, dental and prescription drug proposals. Scott Fritz, a consultant with National Insurance Services, said the firm “shipped these opportunities out to other carriers and other relationships to get responses, so to make sure that we did a thorough analysis of the market.”

The consultants said Blue Cross Blue Shield emerged as the most viable medical bidder after First Carolina Care removed its proposal. Rick Labien, a National Insurance Services consultant, summarized the Blue Cross offer: the county's projected total cost under Blue Cross is roughly flat (the consultants reported “less than 2% change” from current expected costs), Blue Cross included a transition credit initially listed at $235,000 that the carrier later increased by $40,000, and Blue Cross reforecasted prescription drug rebates upward from about $700,000 to roughly $1,200,000 after reviewing Moore County's claims data.

Why it matters: the county insures about 794…