August 11, 2025 • 33 mins
Tariffs are hitting the automotive industry as they take effect. The State Health Plan is considering a premium increase while adding a new digital care platform. The NC elections board has resolved a voter ID lawsuit, approved early voting plans, and the upcoming back-to-school shopping season is expected to see higher sales. July’s sports betting numbers are also in.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oh five and welcome into a Monday edition
of The Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety
nine to three WBT. I'm Nicked Craig. A good morning
to you. As tariffs went into effect for multiple nations
back last week August the seventh, the automotive industry is
reporting an almost twelve billion dollar hit in financial losses
(00:31):
due to said tariffs. That's according to analysis from the
Wall Street Journal. Import duties on the automotive industry totaled
more than eleven point eight billion dollars. Automotive manufacturers reported
the losses from previous instituted tariffs, including a twenty five
percent tariff on the automotive industry, as well as a
(00:53):
continued fifty percent tariff on steel and aluminum. The sector
expects bigger financial loss is as those August the seventh
tariffs are fully implemented, Joseph Harris, a fiscal policy analyst
over at the John Locke Foundation, told The Carolina Journal.
This spring, the Trump administration imposed twenty five percent tariffs
(01:15):
on imported passenger vehicles, light trucks, and auto parts, sending
shockwaves through the automotive industry. In the second quarter, operating
earnings among fourteen major automakers declined by a combined twelve
billion dollars. One of the state's largest automotive companies, Toyota,
reported a three point zh six billion dollar hit in
(01:38):
tariff duties, the most significant hit reported by a single
auto manufacturer. That's according to an April report also by
The Wall Street Journal, Toyota expects a nine and a
half billion dollar hit by the end of the fiscal
year in March, resulting a forty four percent decline in
net profit. According to Emily Holland, the manager of corporate
(02:01):
Communications for Toyota America, notes that Toyota quote has been
part of the cultural fabric in the United States for
more than sixty five years. Our philosophy has always been
been to build where we sell and build where we buy,
noting with over fifty billion dollars invested in the United States,
(02:22):
including ten US manufacturing plants and more than forty nine
thousand direct jobs, we are fully compliant with the USMCA
trade Agreement and will continue to deepen our investments in America.
Like the entire auto industry or any other global business,
we will continue to adapt to trade policies to meet
(02:43):
consumer needs and quote they are from Toyota Toyota No
North America. This also follows reports from General Motors the
company absorbed about one point one billion dollars in tariff
costs in the second fiscal quarter due to tariffs. GMA
estimates a four to five billion dollar annual impact as
(03:04):
those results and the impacts of those terriffts continue to
be played. GM manufacturer's vehicle for private and commercial use.
GM Defense, which is a subsidiary of General Motors, also
manufactures vehicles for the Department of Defense. They have a
production facility in Concord, which opened back in twenty twenty one.
(03:25):
Joseph Harris continued by noting that the largest year over
year loss was reported by Japanese automaker Toyota, whose operational
earnings dropped by three billion dollars. The German automaker Volkswagen
also absorbed the second largest hit, which was one point
five billion dollars. American companies GM and Ford experienced the
(03:48):
third and fourth largest decline, each around a billion dollars apiece.
He noted, so far automakers have resisted raising prices, but
if elevated trade costs persist, manufacturers will likely reconsider their
pricing strategies in the very near term future, tariffs could
accelerate the completion of several long delayed products, including a
(04:11):
potential Audi factory. Volkswagen as well as other companies that
have confirmed ongoing discussions with the White House regarding investment
packages to build more of their vehicles in the United States.
Volkswagen has already incurred about one and a half billion
dollars in losses and for at about a billion tesse
lisseeing some of the least amount of impacts at just
(04:35):
zero point three billion dollars around three hundred million. The
US automotive automotive industry faces substantial financial pressure due to
escalating tariffs billions of dollars in reported losses and more
expected in the coming months as those tariffs continue to
stress out that industry. Will continue to track the details
(04:56):
not only on tariffs on the automobile industry, but all
of the other sectors that we have been continuing to
track over on our website Carolina Journal dot com and
right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's
now a five to ten news Talk eleven ten, ninety
nine to three WBT government meetings happened pretty regularly across
the state of North Carolina, and they often don't get
(05:17):
a whole lot of attention. However, coming up later on
this week, the North Carolina State Health Plan Board of
Trustees is set to meet, and that is likely to
get some big time attention as they're likely to be
dealing with some rate increases. To walk us through and
preview what that meeting could look like, Teresa Opeka, Carolina
Journal dot Com joins us on the News Hour. Teresa,
it's been many, many years since rate increases have happened
(05:38):
for members of the state Health Plan. Looks like that's
going to be happening sometime later this week.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yes, good morning, Neck, thanks for having me. It's been
quite a while since they had, you know, premium increases.
Treasurer Brad Reiner did talk about this in the last
couple of months and also last week's Council of State meeting,
so I think it it's been about eight years or
so before they have had an increase, and what they
were doing is they were actually going through the reserves
(06:07):
to you know, head that off. But unfortunately, you know
what happens if you're not building the reserves up, they
get depleted. So this is something that's necessary. And the
State Health Plan Board of Trustees is meeting on Friday
to set premium rates. They've already had a couple other
meetings throughout the year where they talked about how copays
are going to be going up and also some other
(06:29):
things as well. So, yeah, on Friday, this over seven
hundred thousand State Health Plan members are going to be
finding out how much their premiums will be going up.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And you talk about you borrowing from some of those
reserves in Teresa will and nobody wants to pay more.
Looking at some of the projected deficits for the state
health plan, these are some astronomical numbers. Five hundred and
seven million dollars in twenty twenty six and between eight
hundred and nine hundred million dollars in twenty twenty seven.
That is a large chunk of change that the State
Health Plan is going to have to make.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Up, right right. You know, Briner was left with the
task to figure all that out, you know, and he
took over in January. So yeah, unfortunately is it you
know happens well all of us, you know, most of
the things are going up these days are not going down,
so it's something that's significant, and they also have looked
(07:23):
for other ways to possibly lower things as well, So
it's just a good way that they're trying to make
up for that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And so, Teresa, I guess as we look at this,
you talked about over seven hundred thousand people as part
of the state health plan, a couple of different deductible
packages and things that are available. It looks like that's
going to be going up, probably for everybody across the board.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, yeah, so we're taking a look at that. For
what they talked about in their meeting in May. This
is for active and non medicare members. Those under the
seventy thirty plan, they're going to see their deductibles go
up from fifteen hundred for singles and forty five hundred
for families three thousand and nine thousand, respectively. And under
the eighty twenty plan, deductibles are going to go from
twelve to fifty for singles that's twelve hundred dollars and
(08:06):
also three seven hundred and forty dollars or families to
fifteen hundred and forty five hundred, respectively. So we have
got that going up as well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Tori's. At a meeting a couple of weeks ago, we
told the Council of State that there's actually a new
partnership with a company called Lantern. What is that going
to mean for folks that are on the state health
plan Sure?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So Lantern is a digital specialty care platform that's going
to Treasure Briner, So it's going to benefit the plans members.
The new agreement with Lantern will offer members no cost
access to a vetted network of surgeons and specialists and
provide personalized support through care advocates and nurse navigators. Well
at the same time controlling costs for members and also
(08:48):
the state health plan. They're looking at possibly getting zero
costs for different surgeries. So that would be a big
cost savings for the state health plan.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, no question about it. Nobody wants to pay more.
But again we talked about some of those deficits and
borrowing from reserves over the last eight years. It seems
like that as a finally hit ahead here. That meeting,
as you noted, does happen on Friday. Folks can read
some details on some of the previous meetings that have
taken place, and of course so We'll keep an eye
on that meeting as we get towards the end of
the week. We appreciate the update. This morning. Teresa Opeka
(09:18):
from Carolina Journal dot com joins us some the Carolina
Journal News Hour. It's by twenty Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Our newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT.
If you are with us a Friday morning, we were
previewing a North Carolina State Board of Elections meeting that
(09:39):
did in fact happen Friday morning, and as a matter
of procedure, the state board right over a settlement reached
in the case of the Republican National Committee, that's the
RNC versus the North Carolina State Board of Elections. NCSBE
General Counsel Paul Cox said that under the open Meetings law,
it is required that once a public body makes a
(10:02):
settlement in closed session, that the settlement, once executed, has
to be reported out at the next public meeting. And
while that next public meeting happened on Friday, State and
National Republican groups and the North Carolina State Board of
Elections reached a deal last month to end the lawsuit
over a voter identification and the University of North Carolina
(10:25):
at Chapel Hill's digital ID cards. The election board agreed
not to accept any electronic identification as a voter ID
unless the General Assembly approves a new law permitting that
form of ID. The Republican National Committee and the North
Carolina Republican Party filed suit in twenty twenty four to
(10:48):
block the State Board of Election from allowing the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hills digital ID cards from being
used for voting purposes. The State Board of ali Elections,
then with a three to two Democrat majority, had voted
to accept the digital IDs as a valid form of
voter ID across the state of North Carolina. Wait County
(11:12):
Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory, also a Democrat, upheld the
State Board's decision. However, the North Carolina Court of Appeals
issued in order in September of last year, blocking the
lower court's decision. A unanimous three judge appellate panel prevented
those digital IDs from Chapel Hill from being accepted as
(11:34):
a valid form of voter identification during the twenty twenty
four general election. Democrat Board member one of the Democrat
board members set at the Friday meeting. Quote, the previous
board made the correct decision to allow that ID, but
the Court of Appeals order disagreed, and we are bound
(11:55):
to obey that. And I think, with all of the
way that technology is changing about digital ideas, that this
will not be the last word on this subject. Both
Democrat board members Milam and Carmen both agreed with that statement,
with the following Board member Jeff Carmon noting quote, I
(12:15):
too voted in support of that result of the court order.
It is not something that I'm in agreement with, but
we know that we will see this again as we
move towards a digital driver's licenses in things of that nature.
Republican member Bob Rucho said that he wasn't present for
the earlier decision with the previous board as he was
(12:36):
just appointed earlier this year, but said that the board
should be required to follow the law and when the
General Assembly allows for changes or makes the change, they
should institute it. Then Carmen said that he agreed and
noted that the law was a little vague on that matter.
Looking at some comments from some other board members, the
(12:58):
Secretary of the Board and board member Stacey four Eggers
noted quote. I know this is something that our previous
board disagreed with on how to handle, and of course
we do have the input from the appellate courts, and
ultimately this is a resolution of this case. But I
do believe from Miss Millan's point that we will likely
(13:19):
have this topic come up again, whether it is from
a pronouncement from the General Assembly or otherwise, as things
progress and we move forward, and as always, this board
will be called upon to make certain decisions, and I'm
sure that there will be plenty of folks there to
call us out if they disagree with us. So that
is the latest details on that ongoing case between the
(13:43):
North Carolina State Board of Elections, the RNC, and the
North Carolina Republican Party over digital IDs. Agreeing with an
appellate court decision, those will no longer be accepted and
a settlement in that case has been reached. The Board
also discussed early voting plans for the upcoming municipal elections
later this year. First to early voting plans for Lee, Mecklenburg,
(14:07):
and Forsyth Counties for their September municipal elections were discussed.
All three of those counties and their local Board of
Elections are unanimously agreed in line with statutory requirements, as
well as Mecklenburg County, which added additional voting sites. Since
all of those plans were unanimous of the State Board
(14:28):
of Election confirmed statutory compliance and approved them. The Board
also extended the deadline for the remaining states ninety seven
counties to get their October or November early voting plans in.
They voted on July the twenty first to set the
deadline for counties hosting November and October elections to submit
(14:50):
their early voting plans to the State Board of Elections
as of August eighth. However, the Board was informed that
a few of the counties have not been able to
meet the deadline for a variety of reasons, or that
some of them needed extra time to get their final decision.
The Board agreed to give an extra week and has
now set the deadline to August fifteenth, which will of
(15:12):
course be coming up here on Friday. Some considerations were
also given because the boards in those counties where some
of them were just sworn in as late as July
the twenty second, so giving those entities a little bit
extra time to go through this process and figure out
exactly what they are going to need to do as
(15:32):
we head closer to those municipal elections coming up a
little bit later on this year. The State Board of
Elections continues to be say a relatively hot topic across
North Carolina. We've got details on this Friday meeting and
some of the other meetings over the last couple of
months over on our website this morning at Carolina Journal
dot com in some other statewide news this morning. Back
(15:55):
to school shopping is projected to increase across North Carolin lineup,
according to a new study by the North Carolina Retail
Merchants Association that was conducted by Appalachian State University Center
for Economic Research and Policy Analysis. The forecast includes projections
for June through September of twenty twenty five to capture
(16:19):
customers and consumers who buy for year round schools and
early shoppers. Overall retail sales in the twenty twenty five
back to school season are projected to total eighty four point
five four billion dollars. That's up over three and a
half billion dollars, or more than four point three percent
(16:39):
from where that number was in twenty twenty four. Andy Ellen,
the President and General counsel of the North Carolina Retail
Merchant Association, will join us with some details on this
study and talk about the impact of back to school shopping, tariffs, inflation,
and the economy. Coming up here in a few minutes
on the Carolina Journal Use Hour. It's five thirty five.
(17:07):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine three WBT, Good Monday morning to you.
Sports Betters in North Carolina wagered more last month than
they did in July of twenty twenty four. However, the
state collected just four million dollars in taxes. That's the
lowest amount since the launch of legal sports betting in
(17:29):
the state, as North Carolina had collected at least six
million dollars in taxes every month since the March twenty
twenty four launch of online sports betting. Operators pay an
eighteen percent tax on gross wagering revenues, calculated as total
amount wagered minus the total paid as winnings. The revenue
(17:51):
total from the three hundred and seventy million dollars on
paid in promotional wagers was twenty two point six million
dollars in July, the lowest total sports betting launched. That's
according to new data from the North Carolina State Lottery Commission,
which is responsible for doing the math and calculating the
(18:12):
totals for online sports wagering. That means that Better's had
a good month with three hundred and forty four million
dollars paid out as winnings. But there was a good
sign for the industry. The total bet inpaid wagers in
July was up ten percent from where it was in
July of last year, which is a continued trend. In June,
(18:33):
the amount bet was up ten percent from where it
was in June of twenty twenty four, and outside of April,
the total wagering revenue each month has ellipsed the total
from the same month. In twenty twenty four, North Carolina
has collected more than sixty five million dollars in taxes
from sports wagering bet betting operators this year. The state
(18:56):
collected one hundred and five million dollars in taxes in
twenty twelve twenty four. However, it's important to note that
that started in March. Both of those figures well ahead
of projections made at the time that the law was
passed and it did go into effect, and as we
get into the start of the NFL football season and
the college football season, all analysts suspect that those rates
(19:19):
will continue to go up as more and more folks
will partake in some of those online that sports wagering
activities will continue to track those trends and talk about
the impacts of sports wagering and not only from a
monetary standpoint, but from a state tax standpoint as it
affects revenues here in North Carolina, right here on the
Carolina Journal News Hour and on our website Carolina Journal
(19:42):
dot com, where it's now five point thirty seven News
Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT. The back
to school shopping season is a big boom for retail
business across the state of North Carolina. To walk us
through some of those numbers and tell us more about
that economic impact, it's my pleasure to welcome Andy Ellen
from the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. He is the
(20:03):
president and general counsel to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
This morning, Andy, it's a big business for a retail
industry as kids are packing up and getting ready to
go back to school. You guys have a new survey
out showing some of that. What are the numbers telling you?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yes, So, the Appalatia State University, their Department of Economics,
has recently conducted a study for us to analyze what
the back to schools shopping means to the North Carolina
economy and means to retailers. And as you said, it's
very important shopping season just behind the holiday season of
Christmas time, and so.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
We're really excited.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
We are seeing a dramatic increase, we believe, projection wise,
the cording Aapolachian state as we head from June all
the way through the end of the shopping season for
back to school through September, and some really positive numbers
showing strong consumer confidence right now.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
And that, of course is good news. We know tariffs
have been caused a lot of uncertainty, not only in
the business sector, but in the retail shop upping sector.
Seems like though, andy even regardless of some of those
those tariff uncertainties, people are going out and shopping and
some of those numbers are actually trending upwards, which is
great news for not only North Carolina consumers but for
retail businesses across the state.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Absolutely, and I think it is a big bounce from
where we saw last year in twenty twenty four. You know,
usually when you have an election year, there's a lot
of uncertainty at that point in time too, and you
have sales sort of consumer confidence oftentimes is down until
the election is over. So you know, like in June
and July, we're projecting about a three and a half
percent increase over last year in twenty twenty four, as
(21:37):
we moved through the summer towards the shopping towards back
to school. You know, we're seeing growth in August of
about four percent increase over twenty twenty four. And the
big one is in September, you know, as the very
last kids are sort of making those last purchases, you know,
a six percent increase over last year, which is again
a remarkable jump from twenty twenty four and again a
real shot in the arm for the retail industry right now.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Is one side of it. The other is inflation. That
curve continues to trend downwards. But Andy, you don't have
to go back that long. Just a couple of years
ago when we had inflation averaging about nine and a
half percent. It's putting a big squeeze on middle class Americans.
As that's trended down, it looks like some of those
retail sales are going up. So it seems like that's
a win win for everybody involved.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
That that is a win win on the inflation dropping
on a number of items. I think also you see
some reduction in the gas prices as well, and that
you know, if you're filling up your tank or you're
you're buying other things for kids. That's a big pieces
of the economic equation as well.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
The tariff stuff is you know, is playing out.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
I think it'll play out a little bit more later
in the year because generally retailers order their goods, you know,
six months in advance, and so some of them had
already made the purchases for the back to school items
before those you know, started getting applied. In some of
these matters, you know, we are seeing projections for items
like shoes and clothing, which are often items that are
bought for back to school, that those will be increasing
(23:01):
with the tariffs.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
As we go forward.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
If for folks that check out National News, they may
have seen over the last couple of weeks some discussion
about a sales tax holiday, this of course lining up
with the back to school season. Some of our neighboring
states have that in effect, North Carolina does not. Does
that impact some of the back to school shopping? And
are we bleeding money to our neighboring states where folks
can go down there and not pay that sales tax.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I think we are bleeding some You know, we have
forty border counties in North Carolina, you know, whether that's
in the Wilmington area or the Charlotte market, or of
the western part of the state, and the states that
surround us, Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennessee all have a
sales tax holiday on items like computers and back or
clothing and those sort of things. And so we do
(23:47):
see a lot of advertising cross border to draw those
consumers across, especially if you're in a bordering county. So
that is a certainly an economic factor. I think our
retailers in North Carolina to try to do really hard,
do a really good job of trying to discount items
that they know consumers are going out to purchase. They
know you're only going to buy one computer, they know
you're only going to probably buy one.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Pair of tennis shoes for the kids. So they're trying to.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Figure out a way to get their prices enough to
make it where you don't have to put gas in
your car and go across the border.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
But it does have an impact on the sales in
North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I know there was some discussion earlier this year in
the North Carolina General Assembly to reinstitute something like this,
it had been in place in years past. Have you
been tracking the progress on that over at the North
Carolina Retail Merchant Association.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You know, the House included a sales tax holiday in
their budget that passed the House with some bipartisan support.
It had not been included in the Senate budget. We
don't know really where that stands right now because, as
you know, the General Assembly sort of had an impasse
with a larger budget. They did pass sort of a
mini budget last week to fund the items that had
to be funded in order for continuing state government operations.
(24:56):
So that will remain to be seen how that plays
out going forward.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
You know, had a.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Sales tax holiday in North Carolina through twenty thirteen. It
was repealed at that point in time, along with another
of other tax credits to lower the corporate income tax
and the personal income tax, utilizing those monies from those
items like sales tax holiday.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
But we'll see. We're continuing to advocate for that. We'll
see how that plays out as we go forward.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Tell us about this partnership with Appalachian State to get
some of this data done. Is that an important piece
of what you guys do?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Yeah, I think you know.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
In this world we live in today, data is so
important no matter what kind of work you're in. And
what we had found was a lot of times we
didn't have the data that we could share with our
members on what to expect with back to school shopping,
holiday shopping, those sort of things, as well as with
the media to give a good lens to what was.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Happening economically in North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
We were relying moral national data, and we felt it
was very important, you know, to tell our story, especially
as we try to make sure we have consumers going
back into stores and being in those stores that our
retailers know what is happening the trends are, as well
as policymakers know what the trends are with economics, and
so we were really proud to partner with Appalachian State University.
(26:09):
The Associate Professor of Economics, imren A Riff, has done
a really good job for us on this, and we'll
be having some more of these economic reports coming out
as we go through the year, both on the holiday
season but also on things of the total economic impact
of the retail industry, which is about one in four jobs.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
And is a major economic driver in our state.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yeah, no question about that, a massive economic driver. Andy
quickly tell us about the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association.
What do you guys doing day in and day out?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
So the nother kind of Retail Merchants Association was founded
in nineteen oh two, so we're coming up one hundred
and twenty fifth anniversary. We are comprised of retailers in
all one hundred counties and all a number of trade divisions,
whether that's pharmacy, grocery, hardware, department store, electronics, bookstores, bottle shops,
line shops. Anybody in that retail space is a member
of ours. We're sort of a not a sort of
(26:59):
a ower genius group. We're more of a header genius with,
you know, a very diverse group of retail members in
our association, and they uti lot. They are comprised of
one store operators all the way to the biggest retailers
in the world. Our main purpose is to advocate before
the North Krona General Assembly to make North Carolina the
best state in the country to operate a retail business.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Andy, where can folks read some more details on this
back to school survey that we're talking about this morning
and find out some more information about what you guys
are doing.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
We will have it on our It's on our website
at www dot n c r m A dot org.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
So that's n c r m A dot org and
we have that study out there right now and on
the web.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
We appreciate the insight this morning. Andy Allen joins us
on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You can also read
more details on that study. We've got an article linked
up on our homepage this morning at Carolina Journal dot com.
Good morning again, it's five point fifty two. Welcome back
(27:59):
to the Carolin line of Journal News Hour. Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT healthcare premiums for over
seven hundred and seventy thousand individuals in North Carolina that
take advantage of the North Carolina State Health Plan and
their members in twenty twenty six will be decided at
a Board of Trustees meeting coming up on Friday, that's
(28:21):
August the fifteenth. They are likely to increase because they
haven't increased in eight years. At the board's meeting in May,
North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner said that cash reserves
had been used to offset any changes to the plan,
but noted that the plan is almost out of reserves,
which is of forcing them to move forward with raising
(28:43):
some of those rates. He said at the meeting in
May that premium increases for the lowest paid employees were
only expected to rise five dollars per month, rather than
the twenty dollars per month that were originally projected when
they met in February this year, thanks to work by
the shp's team and federal subsidies. In addition, the plans
(29:07):
projected deficits, which are five hundred and seven million dollars
in twenty twenty six and between eight hundred and nine
hundred million dollars in twenty twenty seven, made these changes
necessary not only to premiums, but for copays and deductibles
as well, which were voted on in May. With the
change for active and non active Medicare members, those under
(29:30):
the seventy thirty plan would see their annual deductibles go
from fifteen hundred dollars a month for singles and forty
five hundred dollars a month for or forty five hundred
dollars total for families, to three thousand and nine thousand, respectively.
Under the eighty twenty plan, deductibles will go from one thousand,
two hundred and fifty dollars for singles and a little
(29:52):
over thirty seven hundred for families to fifteen hundred and
forty five hundred for those plans. Primary care office visits
and specialty visits would also see a little or would
see little or no increase as well. The plan will
also have a name change. The seventy thirty plan will
also now be known as the Standard PPO Plan, with
(30:15):
the eighty twenty plan now being called the Plus PPO Plan.
At Yes. At a last week's a Council of State meeting,
a state Treasurer Brad Briner told the other members of
the Council of State that there shouldn't be any surprise
and that they should land where they thought they would.
He also thanked the North Carolina General Assembly for helping
(30:36):
fund the plan by passing their mini budget, which a
Democrat Governor, Josh Stein signed into law late last week. Additionally,
Briner said that they have asked just about every provider
in the state for lower rates and noted that many
have agreed and that they are continuing to work on
the rest to continue to bring those rates down. He
(30:59):
also told the Council of State that a new partnership
with a company called Lantern, which is a digital specialty
care platform, will also benefit members of the State Health Plan.
Briner says that a new agreement with Lantern will offer
members no cost access to a vetted network of surgeons
and specialists. Lantern also provides personalized support through dedicated care
(31:24):
advocates and nurse navigators, while helping control costs for both
members and the plan. Briner told the Council of State, quote,
the State Health Plan is the largest private payer in
the state. We have seven hundred and seventy thousand people
on the plan. They are price sensitive, no surprise, and
(31:44):
we have better than Medicaid and Medicare. We're so we're
sought after a source for patients for every provider in
the state. So we seek to take that and make
receipts out of it to have better competition in the
healthcare business. Said that is something that the healthcare business
in general has been reluctant to embrace, noting that Lantern
(32:06):
is going to help us do that. The idea is
to have high quality providers compete for our business with
the lowest price winning. We'll pass that low price onto
the members of the State health plan in the form
of no deductibles, no copays for major surgeries. That's what
we're trying to cover with Lantern. He added that the
(32:27):
State Health Plan will experience a cost reduction material as
a result, and that the receipts where everybody wins, including providers,
because the plan brings tremendous volume to them as well.
The treasurer noted quote Lantern is a great partnership and
we're excited to begin with that. We will announce results
(32:47):
and who benefited from the preferred access to our members
over time, but it will get us to a better experience,
a better expense trajectory, which has always been the goal
of the State Health Plan. So that meeting with those
finalized rates for those PPO plans will be coming up
on Friday. We'll have a continued coverage of that meeting
(33:08):
on our website, Carolina Journal dot com and of course
bring you the latest details as we get them right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, and that's going
to do it for a Monday edition. WBT News is next,
followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow
morning five to six right here on Newstalk eleven, ten
and ninety nine three WBT
It's five oh five and welcome into a Monday edition
of The Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven, ten ninety
nine to three WBT. I'm Nicked Craig. A good morning
to you. As tariffs went into effect for multiple nations
back last week August the seventh, the automotive industry is
reporting an almost twelve billion dollar hit in financial losses
(00:31):
due to said tariffs. That's according to analysis from the
Wall Street Journal. Import duties on the automotive industry totaled
more than eleven point eight billion dollars. Automotive manufacturers reported
the losses from previous instituted tariffs, including a twenty five
percent tariff on the automotive industry, as well as a
(00:53):
continued fifty percent tariff on steel and aluminum. The sector
expects bigger financial loss is as those August the seventh
tariffs are fully implemented, Joseph Harris, a fiscal policy analyst
over at the John Locke Foundation, told The Carolina Journal.
This spring, the Trump administration imposed twenty five percent tariffs
(01:15):
on imported passenger vehicles, light trucks, and auto parts, sending
shockwaves through the automotive industry. In the second quarter, operating
earnings among fourteen major automakers declined by a combined twelve
billion dollars. One of the state's largest automotive companies, Toyota,
reported a three point zh six billion dollar hit in
(01:38):
tariff duties, the most significant hit reported by a single
auto manufacturer. That's according to an April report also by
The Wall Street Journal, Toyota expects a nine and a
half billion dollar hit by the end of the fiscal
year in March, resulting a forty four percent decline in
net profit. According to Emily Holland, the manager of corporate
(02:01):
Communications for Toyota America, notes that Toyota quote has been
part of the cultural fabric in the United States for
more than sixty five years. Our philosophy has always been
been to build where we sell and build where we buy,
noting with over fifty billion dollars invested in the United States,
(02:22):
including ten US manufacturing plants and more than forty nine
thousand direct jobs, we are fully compliant with the USMCA
trade Agreement and will continue to deepen our investments in America.
Like the entire auto industry or any other global business,
we will continue to adapt to trade policies to meet
(02:43):
consumer needs and quote they are from Toyota Toyota No
North America. This also follows reports from General Motors the
company absorbed about one point one billion dollars in tariff
costs in the second fiscal quarter due to tariffs. GMA
estimates a four to five billion dollar annual impact as
(03:04):
those results and the impacts of those terriffts continue to
be played. GM manufacturer's vehicle for private and commercial use.
GM Defense, which is a subsidiary of General Motors, also
manufactures vehicles for the Department of Defense. They have a
production facility in Concord, which opened back in twenty twenty one.
(03:25):
Joseph Harris continued by noting that the largest year over
year loss was reported by Japanese automaker Toyota, whose operational
earnings dropped by three billion dollars. The German automaker Volkswagen
also absorbed the second largest hit, which was one point
five billion dollars. American companies GM and Ford experienced the
(03:48):
third and fourth largest decline, each around a billion dollars apiece.
He noted, so far automakers have resisted raising prices, but
if elevated trade costs persist, manufacturers will likely reconsider their
pricing strategies in the very near term future, tariffs could
accelerate the completion of several long delayed products, including a
(04:11):
potential Audi factory. Volkswagen as well as other companies that
have confirmed ongoing discussions with the White House regarding investment
packages to build more of their vehicles in the United States.
Volkswagen has already incurred about one and a half billion
dollars in losses and for at about a billion tesse
lisseeing some of the least amount of impacts at just
(04:35):
zero point three billion dollars around three hundred million. The
US automotive automotive industry faces substantial financial pressure due to
escalating tariffs billions of dollars in reported losses and more
expected in the coming months as those tariffs continue to
stress out that industry. Will continue to track the details
(04:56):
not only on tariffs on the automobile industry, but all
of the other sectors that we have been continuing to
track over on our website Carolina Journal dot com and
right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, where it's
now a five to ten news Talk eleven ten, ninety
nine to three WBT government meetings happened pretty regularly across
the state of North Carolina, and they often don't get
(05:17):
a whole lot of attention. However, coming up later on
this week, the North Carolina State Health Plan Board of
Trustees is set to meet, and that is likely to
get some big time attention as they're likely to be
dealing with some rate increases. To walk us through and
preview what that meeting could look like, Teresa Opeka, Carolina
Journal dot Com joins us on the News Hour. Teresa,
it's been many, many years since rate increases have happened
(05:38):
for members of the state Health Plan. Looks like that's
going to be happening sometime later this week.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yes, good morning, Neck, thanks for having me. It's been
quite a while since they had, you know, premium increases.
Treasurer Brad Reiner did talk about this in the last
couple of months and also last week's Council of State meeting,
so I think it it's been about eight years or
so before they have had an increase, and what they
were doing is they were actually going through the reserves
(06:07):
to you know, head that off. But unfortunately, you know
what happens if you're not building the reserves up, they
get depleted. So this is something that's necessary. And the
State Health Plan Board of Trustees is meeting on Friday
to set premium rates. They've already had a couple other
meetings throughout the year where they talked about how copays
are going to be going up and also some other
(06:29):
things as well. So, yeah, on Friday, this over seven
hundred thousand State Health Plan members are going to be
finding out how much their premiums will be going up.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
And you talk about you borrowing from some of those
reserves in Teresa will and nobody wants to pay more.
Looking at some of the projected deficits for the state
health plan, these are some astronomical numbers. Five hundred and
seven million dollars in twenty twenty six and between eight
hundred and nine hundred million dollars in twenty twenty seven.
That is a large chunk of change that the State
Health Plan is going to have to make.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Up, right right. You know, Briner was left with the
task to figure all that out, you know, and he
took over in January. So yeah, unfortunately is it you
know happens well all of us, you know, most of
the things are going up these days are not going down,
so it's something that's significant, and they also have looked
(07:23):
for other ways to possibly lower things as well, So
it's just a good way that they're trying to make
up for that.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And so, Teresa, I guess as we look at this,
you talked about over seven hundred thousand people as part
of the state health plan, a couple of different deductible
packages and things that are available. It looks like that's
going to be going up, probably for everybody across the board.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yes, yeah, so we're taking a look at that. For
what they talked about in their meeting in May. This
is for active and non medicare members. Those under the
seventy thirty plan, they're going to see their deductibles go
up from fifteen hundred for singles and forty five hundred
for families three thousand and nine thousand, respectively. And under
the eighty twenty plan, deductibles are going to go from
twelve to fifty for singles that's twelve hundred dollars and
(08:06):
also three seven hundred and forty dollars or families to
fifteen hundred and forty five hundred, respectively. So we have
got that going up as well.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Tori's. At a meeting a couple of weeks ago, we
told the Council of State that there's actually a new
partnership with a company called Lantern. What is that going
to mean for folks that are on the state health
plan Sure?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
So Lantern is a digital specialty care platform that's going
to Treasure Briner, So it's going to benefit the plans members.
The new agreement with Lantern will offer members no cost
access to a vetted network of surgeons and specialists and
provide personalized support through care advocates and nurse navigators. Well
at the same time controlling costs for members and also
(08:48):
the state health plan. They're looking at possibly getting zero
costs for different surgeries. So that would be a big
cost savings for the state health plan.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, no question about it. Nobody wants to pay more.
But again we talked about some of those deficits and
borrowing from reserves over the last eight years. It seems
like that as a finally hit ahead here. That meeting,
as you noted, does happen on Friday. Folks can read
some details on some of the previous meetings that have
taken place, and of course so We'll keep an eye
on that meeting as we get towards the end of
the week. We appreciate the update. This morning. Teresa Opeka
(09:18):
from Carolina Journal dot com joins us some the Carolina
Journal News Hour. It's by twenty Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Our newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT.
If you are with us a Friday morning, we were
previewing a North Carolina State Board of Elections meeting that
(09:39):
did in fact happen Friday morning, and as a matter
of procedure, the state board right over a settlement reached
in the case of the Republican National Committee, that's the
RNC versus the North Carolina State Board of Elections. NCSBE
General Counsel Paul Cox said that under the open Meetings law,
it is required that once a public body makes a
(10:02):
settlement in closed session, that the settlement, once executed, has
to be reported out at the next public meeting. And
while that next public meeting happened on Friday, State and
National Republican groups and the North Carolina State Board of
Elections reached a deal last month to end the lawsuit
over a voter identification and the University of North Carolina
(10:25):
at Chapel Hill's digital ID cards. The election board agreed
not to accept any electronic identification as a voter ID
unless the General Assembly approves a new law permitting that
form of ID. The Republican National Committee and the North
Carolina Republican Party filed suit in twenty twenty four to
(10:48):
block the State Board of Election from allowing the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hills digital ID cards from being
used for voting purposes. The State Board of ali Elections,
then with a three to two Democrat majority, had voted
to accept the digital IDs as a valid form of
voter ID across the state of North Carolina. Wait County
(11:12):
Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory, also a Democrat, upheld the
State Board's decision. However, the North Carolina Court of Appeals
issued in order in September of last year, blocking the
lower court's decision. A unanimous three judge appellate panel prevented
those digital IDs from Chapel Hill from being accepted as
(11:34):
a valid form of voter identification during the twenty twenty
four general election. Democrat Board member one of the Democrat
board members set at the Friday meeting. Quote, the previous
board made the correct decision to allow that ID, but
the Court of Appeals order disagreed, and we are bound
(11:55):
to obey that. And I think, with all of the
way that technology is changing about digital ideas, that this
will not be the last word on this subject. Both
Democrat board members Milam and Carmen both agreed with that statement,
with the following Board member Jeff Carmon noting quote, I
(12:15):
too voted in support of that result of the court order.
It is not something that I'm in agreement with, but
we know that we will see this again as we
move towards a digital driver's licenses in things of that nature.
Republican member Bob Rucho said that he wasn't present for
the earlier decision with the previous board as he was
(12:36):
just appointed earlier this year, but said that the board
should be required to follow the law and when the
General Assembly allows for changes or makes the change, they
should institute it. Then Carmen said that he agreed and
noted that the law was a little vague on that matter.
Looking at some comments from some other board members, the
(12:58):
Secretary of the Board and board member Stacey four Eggers
noted quote. I know this is something that our previous
board disagreed with on how to handle, and of course
we do have the input from the appellate courts, and
ultimately this is a resolution of this case. But I
do believe from Miss Millan's point that we will likely
(13:19):
have this topic come up again, whether it is from
a pronouncement from the General Assembly or otherwise, as things
progress and we move forward, and as always, this board
will be called upon to make certain decisions, and I'm
sure that there will be plenty of folks there to
call us out if they disagree with us. So that
is the latest details on that ongoing case between the
(13:43):
North Carolina State Board of Elections, the RNC, and the
North Carolina Republican Party over digital IDs. Agreeing with an
appellate court decision, those will no longer be accepted and
a settlement in that case has been reached. The Board
also discussed early voting plans for the upcoming municipal elections
later this year. First to early voting plans for Lee, Mecklenburg,
(14:07):
and Forsyth Counties for their September municipal elections were discussed.
All three of those counties and their local Board of
Elections are unanimously agreed in line with statutory requirements, as
well as Mecklenburg County, which added additional voting sites. Since
all of those plans were unanimous of the State Board
(14:28):
of Election confirmed statutory compliance and approved them. The Board
also extended the deadline for the remaining states ninety seven
counties to get their October or November early voting plans in.
They voted on July the twenty first to set the
deadline for counties hosting November and October elections to submit
(14:50):
their early voting plans to the State Board of Elections
as of August eighth. However, the Board was informed that
a few of the counties have not been able to
meet the deadline for a variety of reasons, or that
some of them needed extra time to get their final decision.
The Board agreed to give an extra week and has
now set the deadline to August fifteenth, which will of
(15:12):
course be coming up here on Friday. Some considerations were
also given because the boards in those counties where some
of them were just sworn in as late as July
the twenty second, so giving those entities a little bit
extra time to go through this process and figure out
exactly what they are going to need to do as
(15:32):
we head closer to those municipal elections coming up a
little bit later on this year. The State Board of
Elections continues to be say a relatively hot topic across
North Carolina. We've got details on this Friday meeting and
some of the other meetings over the last couple of
months over on our website this morning at Carolina Journal
dot com in some other statewide news this morning. Back
(15:55):
to school shopping is projected to increase across North Carolin lineup,
according to a new study by the North Carolina Retail
Merchants Association that was conducted by Appalachian State University Center
for Economic Research and Policy Analysis. The forecast includes projections
for June through September of twenty twenty five to capture
(16:19):
customers and consumers who buy for year round schools and
early shoppers. Overall retail sales in the twenty twenty five
back to school season are projected to total eighty four point
five four billion dollars. That's up over three and a
half billion dollars, or more than four point three percent
(16:39):
from where that number was in twenty twenty four. Andy Ellen,
the President and General counsel of the North Carolina Retail
Merchant Association, will join us with some details on this
study and talk about the impact of back to school shopping, tariffs, inflation,
and the economy. Coming up here in a few minutes
on the Carolina Journal Use Hour. It's five thirty five.
(17:07):
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine three WBT, Good Monday morning to you.
Sports Betters in North Carolina wagered more last month than
they did in July of twenty twenty four. However, the
state collected just four million dollars in taxes. That's the
lowest amount since the launch of legal sports betting in
(17:29):
the state, as North Carolina had collected at least six
million dollars in taxes every month since the March twenty
twenty four launch of online sports betting. Operators pay an
eighteen percent tax on gross wagering revenues, calculated as total
amount wagered minus the total paid as winnings. The revenue
(17:51):
total from the three hundred and seventy million dollars on
paid in promotional wagers was twenty two point six million
dollars in July, the lowest total sports betting launched. That's
according to new data from the North Carolina State Lottery Commission,
which is responsible for doing the math and calculating the
(18:12):
totals for online sports wagering. That means that Better's had
a good month with three hundred and forty four million
dollars paid out as winnings. But there was a good
sign for the industry. The total bet inpaid wagers in
July was up ten percent from where it was in
July of last year, which is a continued trend. In June,
(18:33):
the amount bet was up ten percent from where it
was in June of twenty twenty four, and outside of April,
the total wagering revenue each month has ellipsed the total
from the same month. In twenty twenty four, North Carolina
has collected more than sixty five million dollars in taxes
from sports wagering bet betting operators this year. The state
(18:56):
collected one hundred and five million dollars in taxes in
twenty twelve twenty four. However, it's important to note that
that started in March. Both of those figures well ahead
of projections made at the time that the law was
passed and it did go into effect, and as we
get into the start of the NFL football season and
the college football season, all analysts suspect that those rates
(19:19):
will continue to go up as more and more folks
will partake in some of those online that sports wagering
activities will continue to track those trends and talk about
the impacts of sports wagering and not only from a
monetary standpoint, but from a state tax standpoint as it
affects revenues here in North Carolina, right here on the
Carolina Journal News Hour and on our website Carolina Journal
(19:42):
dot com, where it's now five point thirty seven News
Talk eleven, ten ninety nine to three WBT. The back
to school shopping season is a big boom for retail
business across the state of North Carolina. To walk us
through some of those numbers and tell us more about
that economic impact, it's my pleasure to welcome Andy Ellen
from the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association. He is the
(20:03):
president and general counsel to the Carolina Journal News Hour.
This morning, Andy, it's a big business for a retail
industry as kids are packing up and getting ready to
go back to school. You guys have a new survey
out showing some of that. What are the numbers telling you?
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Yes, So, the Appalatia State University, their Department of Economics,
has recently conducted a study for us to analyze what
the back to schools shopping means to the North Carolina
economy and means to retailers. And as you said, it's
very important shopping season just behind the holiday season of
Christmas time, and so.
Speaker 4 (20:35):
We're really excited.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
We are seeing a dramatic increase, we believe, projection wise,
the cording Aapolachian state as we head from June all
the way through the end of the shopping season for
back to school through September, and some really positive numbers
showing strong consumer confidence right now.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
And that, of course is good news. We know tariffs
have been caused a lot of uncertainty, not only in
the business sector, but in the retail shop upping sector.
Seems like though, andy even regardless of some of those
those tariff uncertainties, people are going out and shopping and
some of those numbers are actually trending upwards, which is
great news for not only North Carolina consumers but for
retail businesses across the state.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Absolutely, and I think it is a big bounce from
where we saw last year in twenty twenty four. You know,
usually when you have an election year, there's a lot
of uncertainty at that point in time too, and you
have sales sort of consumer confidence oftentimes is down until
the election is over. So you know, like in June
and July, we're projecting about a three and a half
percent increase over last year in twenty twenty four, as
(21:37):
we moved through the summer towards the shopping towards back
to school. You know, we're seeing growth in August of
about four percent increase over twenty twenty four. And the
big one is in September, you know, as the very
last kids are sort of making those last purchases, you know,
a six percent increase over last year, which is again
a remarkable jump from twenty twenty four and again a
real shot in the arm for the retail industry right now.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Is one side of it. The other is inflation. That
curve continues to trend downwards. But Andy, you don't have
to go back that long. Just a couple of years
ago when we had inflation averaging about nine and a
half percent. It's putting a big squeeze on middle class Americans.
As that's trended down, it looks like some of those
retail sales are going up. So it seems like that's
a win win for everybody involved.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
That that is a win win on the inflation dropping
on a number of items. I think also you see
some reduction in the gas prices as well, and that
you know, if you're filling up your tank or you're
you're buying other things for kids. That's a big pieces
of the economic equation as well.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
The tariff stuff is you know, is playing out.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
I think it'll play out a little bit more later
in the year because generally retailers order their goods, you know,
six months in advance, and so some of them had
already made the purchases for the back to school items
before those you know, started getting applied. In some of
these matters, you know, we are seeing projections for items
like shoes and clothing, which are often items that are
bought for back to school, that those will be increasing
(23:01):
with the tariffs.
Speaker 4 (23:02):
As we go forward.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
If for folks that check out National News, they may
have seen over the last couple of weeks some discussion
about a sales tax holiday, this of course lining up
with the back to school season. Some of our neighboring
states have that in effect, North Carolina does not. Does
that impact some of the back to school shopping? And
are we bleeding money to our neighboring states where folks
can go down there and not pay that sales tax.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I think we are bleeding some You know, we have
forty border counties in North Carolina, you know, whether that's
in the Wilmington area or the Charlotte market, or of
the western part of the state, and the states that
surround us, Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennessee all have a
sales tax holiday on items like computers and back or
clothing and those sort of things. And so we do
(23:47):
see a lot of advertising cross border to draw those
consumers across, especially if you're in a bordering county. So
that is a certainly an economic factor. I think our
retailers in North Carolina to try to do really hard,
do a really good job of trying to discount items
that they know consumers are going out to purchase. They
know you're only going to buy one computer, they know
you're only going to probably buy one.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Pair of tennis shoes for the kids. So they're trying to.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Figure out a way to get their prices enough to
make it where you don't have to put gas in
your car and go across the border.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
But it does have an impact on the sales in
North Carolina.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I know there was some discussion earlier this year in
the North Carolina General Assembly to reinstitute something like this,
it had been in place in years past. Have you
been tracking the progress on that over at the North
Carolina Retail Merchant Association.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
You know, the House included a sales tax holiday in
their budget that passed the House with some bipartisan support.
It had not been included in the Senate budget. We
don't know really where that stands right now because, as
you know, the General Assembly sort of had an impasse
with a larger budget. They did pass sort of a
mini budget last week to fund the items that had
to be funded in order for continuing state government operations.
(24:56):
So that will remain to be seen how that plays
out going forward.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
You know, had a.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Sales tax holiday in North Carolina through twenty thirteen. It
was repealed at that point in time, along with another
of other tax credits to lower the corporate income tax
and the personal income tax, utilizing those monies from those
items like sales tax holiday.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
But we'll see. We're continuing to advocate for that. We'll
see how that plays out as we go forward.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Tell us about this partnership with Appalachian State to get
some of this data done. Is that an important piece
of what you guys do?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Yeah, I think you know.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
In this world we live in today, data is so
important no matter what kind of work you're in. And
what we had found was a lot of times we
didn't have the data that we could share with our
members on what to expect with back to school shopping,
holiday shopping, those sort of things, as well as with
the media to give a good lens to what was.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Happening economically in North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
We were relying moral national data, and we felt it
was very important, you know, to tell our story, especially
as we try to make sure we have consumers going
back into stores and being in those stores that our
retailers know what is happening the trends are, as well
as policymakers know what the trends are with economics, and
so we were really proud to partner with Appalachian State University.
(26:09):
The Associate Professor of Economics, imren A Riff, has done
a really good job for us on this, and we'll
be having some more of these economic reports coming out
as we go through the year, both on the holiday
season but also on things of the total economic impact
of the retail industry, which is about one in four jobs.
Speaker 4 (26:26):
And is a major economic driver in our state.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Yeah, no question about that, a massive economic driver. Andy
quickly tell us about the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association.
What do you guys doing day in and day out?
Speaker 3 (26:38):
So the nother kind of Retail Merchants Association was founded
in nineteen oh two, so we're coming up one hundred
and twenty fifth anniversary. We are comprised of retailers in
all one hundred counties and all a number of trade divisions,
whether that's pharmacy, grocery, hardware, department store, electronics, bookstores, bottle shops,
line shops. Anybody in that retail space is a member
of ours. We're sort of a not a sort of
(26:59):
a ower genius group. We're more of a header genius with,
you know, a very diverse group of retail members in
our association, and they uti lot. They are comprised of
one store operators all the way to the biggest retailers
in the world. Our main purpose is to advocate before
the North Krona General Assembly to make North Carolina the
best state in the country to operate a retail business.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Andy, where can folks read some more details on this
back to school survey that we're talking about this morning
and find out some more information about what you guys
are doing.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
We will have it on our It's on our website
at www dot n c r m A dot org.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
So that's n c r m A dot org and
we have that study out there right now and on
the web.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
We appreciate the insight this morning. Andy Allen joins us
on the Carolina Journal News Hour. You can also read
more details on that study. We've got an article linked
up on our homepage this morning at Carolina Journal dot com.
Good morning again, it's five point fifty two. Welcome back
(27:59):
to the Carolin line of Journal News Hour. Newstock eleven
ten ninety nine to three WBT healthcare premiums for over
seven hundred and seventy thousand individuals in North Carolina that
take advantage of the North Carolina State Health Plan and
their members in twenty twenty six will be decided at
a Board of Trustees meeting coming up on Friday, that's
(28:21):
August the fifteenth. They are likely to increase because they
haven't increased in eight years. At the board's meeting in May,
North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner said that cash reserves
had been used to offset any changes to the plan,
but noted that the plan is almost out of reserves,
which is of forcing them to move forward with raising
(28:43):
some of those rates. He said at the meeting in
May that premium increases for the lowest paid employees were
only expected to rise five dollars per month, rather than
the twenty dollars per month that were originally projected when
they met in February this year, thanks to work by
the shp's team and federal subsidies. In addition, the plans
(29:07):
projected deficits, which are five hundred and seven million dollars
in twenty twenty six and between eight hundred and nine
hundred million dollars in twenty twenty seven, made these changes
necessary not only to premiums, but for copays and deductibles
as well, which were voted on in May. With the
change for active and non active Medicare members, those under
(29:30):
the seventy thirty plan would see their annual deductibles go
from fifteen hundred dollars a month for singles and forty
five hundred dollars a month for or forty five hundred
dollars total for families, to three thousand and nine thousand, respectively.
Under the eighty twenty plan, deductibles will go from one thousand,
two hundred and fifty dollars for singles and a little
(29:52):
over thirty seven hundred for families to fifteen hundred and
forty five hundred for those plans. Primary care office visits
and specialty visits would also see a little or would
see little or no increase as well. The plan will
also have a name change. The seventy thirty plan will
also now be known as the Standard PPO Plan, with
(30:15):
the eighty twenty plan now being called the Plus PPO Plan.
At Yes. At a last week's a Council of State meeting,
a state Treasurer Brad Briner told the other members of
the Council of State that there shouldn't be any surprise
and that they should land where they thought they would.
He also thanked the North Carolina General Assembly for helping
(30:36):
fund the plan by passing their mini budget, which a
Democrat Governor, Josh Stein signed into law late last week. Additionally,
Briner said that they have asked just about every provider
in the state for lower rates and noted that many
have agreed and that they are continuing to work on
the rest to continue to bring those rates down. He
(30:59):
also told the Council of State that a new partnership
with a company called Lantern, which is a digital specialty
care platform, will also benefit members of the State Health Plan.
Briner says that a new agreement with Lantern will offer
members no cost access to a vetted network of surgeons
and specialists. Lantern also provides personalized support through dedicated care
(31:24):
advocates and nurse navigators, while helping control costs for both
members and the plan. Briner told the Council of State, quote,
the State Health Plan is the largest private payer in
the state. We have seven hundred and seventy thousand people
on the plan. They are price sensitive, no surprise, and
(31:44):
we have better than Medicaid and Medicare. We're so we're
sought after a source for patients for every provider in
the state. So we seek to take that and make
receipts out of it to have better competition in the
healthcare business. Said that is something that the healthcare business
in general has been reluctant to embrace, noting that Lantern
(32:06):
is going to help us do that. The idea is
to have high quality providers compete for our business with
the lowest price winning. We'll pass that low price onto
the members of the State health plan in the form
of no deductibles, no copays for major surgeries. That's what
we're trying to cover with Lantern. He added that the
(32:27):
State Health Plan will experience a cost reduction material as
a result, and that the receipts where everybody wins, including providers,
because the plan brings tremendous volume to them as well.
The treasurer noted quote Lantern is a great partnership and
we're excited to begin with that. We will announce results
(32:47):
and who benefited from the preferred access to our members
over time, but it will get us to a better experience,
a better expense trajectory, which has always been the goal
of the State Health Plan. So that meeting with those
finalized rates for those PPO plans will be coming up
on Friday. We'll have a continued coverage of that meeting
(33:08):
on our website, Carolina Journal dot com and of course
bring you the latest details as we get them right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, and that's going
to do it for a Monday edition. WBT News is next,
followed by Good Morning BT. We're back with you tomorrow
morning five to six right here on Newstalk eleven, ten
and ninety nine three WBT
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