RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner is asking a Wake County judge to stop Atrium Healths Affordability Protection Program, arguing the hospital system is illegally rewriting cost shares for the State Health Plan that covers nearly 750,000 teachers, state workers, retirees and their families.
Open enrollment for the 2027 benefit year began Monday, Oct. 12. Plan officials extended the window through Nov. 6 while they seek a temporary restraining order, saying members need more time to choose coverage amid the dispute.
The plan is rolling out a preferred-provider tier system for next year. UNC Health and Novant Health sit in the preferred tier after agreeing to lower pricing for state employees. Atrium and WakeMed were placed in the non-preferred tier, which means members who use those systems would face higher out-of-pocket costs under the states design.
Atrium launched the Affordability Protection Program on Oct. 6, less than a week before enrollment opened. The company says it will automatically cut member copays at Atrium facilities below preferred-tier amounts. Briners complaint says only the treasurer can set those amounts and that the new tiered system is conservatively estimated to save the plan more than $135 million in 2027 if preferred providers keep drawing patients.
Atrium says the program was not meant to harm the plans finances and that it has offered to match preferred-tier discounts, including as recently as Oct. 7. Plan leaders say they were blindsided by the public announcement and that Atrium has not committed to lowering what it charges the plan.
The fight also sits beside Atriums proposed merger with Raleigh-based WakeMed, which Briner has criticized separately. Regulators are still reviewing that deal. For now, hundreds of thousands of plan members must pick 2027 coverage while the court weighs whether Atrium can keep paying down their cost shares.
