by Mindy Aguon

Guam - With less than two months until the new fiscal year, the attorney general says he is hoping to resolve a protest over the 2012 group health insurance negotiations. Aetna International and Moylan's Insurance filed the protest on July 20, alleging flaws in the rating system when a selection was made. While he can't speak to the specifics of the protest and what the process entails, AG Leonardo Rapadas admits that if the issue isn't resolved soon, thousands of GovGuam employees and retirees could be left without any insurance at all.

"When the time comes, the deadline comes there is a possibility that there won't be any health insurance available, I'm hoping we don't get to that point, the current law says there is no carry over of the insurance so there may be a situation," Rapadas told KUAM News.

Aetna and Moylan's representatives have declined any official comment at this time until they receive an official response to their protest from the Department of Administration. Negotiations have been stopped until the issue is first resolved.

The AG meanwhile has indicated that the legislature may want to consider possibly negotiating an extension of the current health insurance contract to ensure coverage in the event the protest isn't resolved and a new contract isn't signed by September 31.

MEMO FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON HEALTH INSURANCE