In addition to offering standard benefits such as health insurance, North Carolina offers state employees the option of purchasing supplemental insurance plans through two separate mechanisms: the NCFlex program, which is administered through the Office of State Human Resources and uniformly available to all eligible state employees, and employee insurance committees, which are housed within individual agencies and universities. The Program Evaluation Division found employee insurance committees are ineffective and have failed to manage the selection of supplemental insurance products. The separation of these committees and NCFlex results in overlapping and duplicative supplemental insurance offerings and makes product comparison and selection challenging for state employees. In addition, weak oversight and management of supplemental insurance elections and payroll deductions by agencies and universities presents risks to employees and the State. The General Assembly should centralize supplemental insurance benefits by creating a single committee that would oversee all supplemental insurance offerings, including the NCFlex program.
Report Update and Additional Responses
Relevant Legislation:
- House Bill 966/Senate Bill 782 (2015–16): An act to clarify selection and strengthen the functioning of employee insurance committees, as recommended by the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee. This legislation was not enacted