CHC updates 5 pay period allotments for employees’ health insurance

Employees of the Commonwealth Health Center can now heave a sigh of relief after the healthcare corporation paid in full all their deducted premiums for health insurance yesterday.

Eli C. Buenaventura, general manager for Calvo’s Insurance Underwriters Inc., confirmed with Saipan Tribune that they received yesterday the allotment for the last two pay periods of employees.

Calvo’s earlier disclosed that its members at the public hospital were delinquent in their premiums for several pay periods and that the company was thinking of terminating or canceling its services due to this nonpayment.

According to Buenaventura, the corporation paid the allotments for the first two pay periods in late February then another pay period allotment two weeks later until it fully updated yesterday the remaining two pay period allotments for plan members.

The corporation received last week $1 million of the $3 million it borrowed from the Marianas Public Land Trust. The remaining $2 million will be issued to the corporation $500,000 every two week until everything had been drawn down. The payment received by Calvo’s is believed to be part of the $1 million initial drawdown.

“Plan members at the hospital are now up-to-date in their allotments after we received the payment today for the fourth and fifth pay periods. Since we raised our concern about delinquent allotments of our plan members, the corporation had extended its cooperation and assistance to us and we’re very happy that this has now been addressed,” Buenaventura said yesterday, adding that plan members should not worry now.

He also disclosed that despite the long delinquency of CHC plan members, Calvo’s did not take any drastic action, in consideration of the corporation’s financial challenges.

Saipan Tribune learned that Calvo’s has over 100 plan members at CHC, most of them nurses.

Health insurance coverage is optional for CHC employees, who may enroll with either of three carriers: Staywell, Aetna, and Calvo’s insurance companies.

Some hospital employees interviewed yesterday said they are a bit relieved-for now. There remains other concerns, including their unpaid obligation to other providers and uncertainties about their wages.

Saipan Tribune learned that Calvo’s is just one of the fortunate ones who were paid; other providers are still waiting for their payments.