Guam - 

Calling it meddlesome and political legislation Governor Eddie Calvo vetoed Bill 81 Friday afternoon. The bill was authored by Senator Ben Pangelinan. In his veto message Calvo said the bill along with a half dozen other bills seeking to alter GovGuam's health insurance contract and negotiations process haven't been backed by empirical data. He said Bill 81 is backed only by a record of incorrect assumptions by the author.

Bill 81 follows more than a dozen bills introduced over the last several years that proposes changing how the government of Guam procures health insurance for employees. Sen. Pangelinan has said Bill 81 simplifies the way the government of Guam procures health insurance, reduces opportunities for protests, offers more choices to public sector employees and retirees, increases competition and helps reduce the out of pocket expenses to government employees, retirees and their families.

The governor in his veto message stated " there's no common-sense reason for the passage of this latest bill. I can only imagine this legislation was authored to again stymie the current process, one which already allows for multiple insurance carriers to provide insurance to GovGuam employees if such provisions actually reduce the costs for subscribers and the taxpayers. This is another attempt to slow progress for political advantage."

Calvo added "Bill 81 is fiscally irresponsible. It is mathematically and actuarially impossible. It abandons a proven process for the solicitation and negotiation of the best health insurance plan for the government. "