Since last week’s Board of Trustees vote, WakeMed and Atrium Health have pushed back publicly, arguing that members will be “charged extra” for using their facilities.

That framing needs context. WakeMed and Atrium aren’t being deemed “non-preferred” arbitrarily. They chose not to give state employees a reasonable price and apparently would rather lose business than make less. Members aren’t being blocked from using them — they’re simply being given honest information about what that choice costs.

SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins appeared on WPTF Morning News this week to address the controversy directly. “The method the treasurer’s office is trying to employ right now to increase competition is something that, while it’s complex and hard to understand, we do need to give it time,” she said. “If it works, we might see premiums even come down in the future.”

We share members’ concerns about the complexity of these changes and the impact on those without easy access to preferred providers, as Watkins and SEANC member John Baley discussed with the News & Observer (subscription required). But the answer to that complexity isn’t misinformation from hospital systems that lost a competitive bid.

For answers to the questions members are asking most, listen to this week’s episode of The SEANC View podcast, where SEANC sat down with State Treasurer Brad Briner and Plan Administrator Thomas Friedman.