Upcoming health care shift for New Hampshire state retirees, explained

On Jan. 1, nearly 10,000 state retirees face a transition: a mandatory change from their present state-funded health care plan to a new one. For Kathleen Zaso, it’s been a process easier said than done.

In September, the Concord retiree began working to schedule a surgery under her present plan, Medicomp, available to retirees through the end of December. But with the coming Jan. 1 transfer to the “Medicare Advantage” plan, Zaso wanted to make sure the same hospitals and providers would be continuously covered in the new year.

The search proved frustrating. After dozens of phone calls with representatives of Anthem, the insurer that will administer Medicare Advantage in New Hampshire, and the state Department of Administrative Services, Zaso struggled to get clear answers on which hospitals would be covered in 2019. A representative from Indiana said Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon was not covered; a manager in Alabama later said it was. A Wisconsin representative gave a list of hundreds of providers covered, but it was disorganized “gobbledygook,” Zaso says.

Two months later, Zaso received a card for the new system, and after still more difficulties finally got the confirmation that her coverage would continue with the same hospitals and doctors. Her surgery took place last Friday. But her experience was a trial, she said. And for Zaso, who worked as a bureau chief in the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and is intimately familiar with health care administration, the past month’s experience is a lesson in how not to do a rollout.

Read more: https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-Hampshire-state-retiree-health-plan-change-explainer-22228428