Insurance company Humana has joined Health Alliance in the protest against the state’s decision to no longer provide health insurance through both companies to over 900,000 state employees.

Humana, which covers about 15,000 state employee and retiree members, filed protests on Wednesday against Gov. Pat Quinn’s decision, said Lindsey Minella, company spokeswoman.

“We feel that the state’s decision to drop some of these HMO plans will limit a great amount of health insurance for state employees,” Minella said. “This change can lead to an increase in costs and can force many employees to change doctors.”

In place of Humana and Health Alliance, the state has opted to offer HMO coverage through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and open-access plans HealthLink and Personal Care.

Although state employees are urged to begin enrolling in new health plans May 1, the filed protest from Health Alliance and Humana could push back this deadline.

Chief State Procurement Officer Matt Brown told the News-Gazette in Champaign that reviewing the protests could take weeks.

Minella added that many of the doctors do not participate with the state’s health care options. Humana is actively engaged in the protest process and is working to contact their clients for input.

“We are trying to educate our existing state members on how this will affect them,” Minella said. “We want them to fully understand the situation.”

Jane Hayes, the vice president of corporate communications for Health Alliance, said she was pleased to hear Humana has joined the effort.

“It certainly can’t hurt. We’re happy Humana also saw it was fit to protest,” she said. “We have a good sound basis for our protest. We know a lot of state employees will be negatively affected.”

Health Alliance, which covers nearly 100,000 state employees and retirees in an HMO plan, filed their protest on April 10. Currently, Hayes said the company is continuing to check information to substantiate the facts presented by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The department stated Illinois will save approximately $102 million per year from the new health care contracts.

“We’ve talked to a lot of legislators and several state employees. We’ve spoken to many agencies in the state and we have support,” Hayes said.

On April 1, Health Alliance met with the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, a committee focused on providing legislature with research and information regarding state and national economies, revenue projections and operations of Illinois government. Minella said Humana has also met with this group. Both companies await the vote from the commission.

Shelley Holmgren can be reached

at 581-2812 or meholmgren@eiu.edu