{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Health Tech Nerds Radio","title":"How North Carolina is fixing its $5.5B state employee health plan | Tom Friedman (NC State Health Plan)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2497,"description":"Tom Friedman became executive director of the North Carolina State Employee Health Plan in January 2025, covering the plan’s 775,000 active and retired members and its 55-person team managing $5.5B in spend. Friedman says the plan faced major projected deficits ($500M in 2026 and $1.4B in 2027) after years without premium or benefit changes, depleted reserves, and limited population health investment, with about 70% of members having chronic conditions. He describes ending the Clear Pricing Project, arguing it raised costs despite showing members are highly price sensitive. The plan is boosting independent/rural primary care via networks paid ~160% of Medicare with reduced administrative burdens and shared savings, and is using Lantern to offer select elective surgeries at $0 member cost by shifting to much lower negotiated rates; 400 surgeries were completed with ~1,900 in the pipeline. Financially, projections improved toward a ~$450–$460M positive stabilization rate next year, with plans to expand “preferred provider” incentives across services.For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/y84Rj-3Zru2TSHB3gg7QPKSw1QK5xTylJGdWYgSYt5g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85MmYw/N2JiYjk1MjQ4NTAy/YzJiZDg1NzYyY2E2/NmI0ZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}