Delaware

Del. lawmakers look to expand Medicare supplement enrollment period for seniors

Published

11 months ago

May 12, 2025

Del. lawmakers look to expand Medicare supplement enrollment period for seniors

Delaware lawmakers look at creating a special enrollment period for those on a Medicare supplement policy looking to switch to another.

State Sen. Ray Seigfried (D-North Brandywine) introduces legislation that would make Delaware the 11th state to create a special open enrollment period for Medicare supplement policy holders 30 days before their birthday and 30 days after.

The new “birthday rule” would allow Medigap — Medicare supplement insurance sold by private insurance companies to help fill gaps in Original Medicare coverage — policyholders to switch to plans with equal or lesser benefits without the need to go through medical underwriting, a process where insurance companies examine an individual’s health risk, which Seigfried believes can be discriminatory.

“This rule can be beneficial for many Medigap beneficiaries, as it allows them to compare prices, coverage options, potentially find a more affordable plan,” Sen. Seigfried said.

It would also allow Medicare Advantage plan members, a plan that Delaware state retirees have argued requires stringent preauthorization requirements and provides insufficient benefits, to cancel their existing policy or enroll in Original Medicare with a supplemental plan following the underwriting process.

Representatives on behalf of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) — a trade association that lobbies on behalf of various insurance companies — and Highmark Delaware oppose the bill, arguing it would lead to higher premiums for seniors and decreased Medigap enrollment as seen in some other states with similar policies.

But Delaware Department of Insurance Senior Policy Advisor Chris Haas argues the statistics cited by insurance stakeholders show correlation without causation.

“We did expose the draft legislation to insurance industry stakeholders and note that many of the responses we received were concerningly misleading and inaccurate. While as of yesterday about 10 states do offer these plans, they all offer them a little bit differently in different environments,” Haas said.

She says while a small impact on rates is possible, because various Medigap carrier shave been declining to write policies at all after a person’s eligibility period, she argues the change in rate is akin to turning something exclusive into something that’s publicly offered.

“In recent years, consumers have reported increased barriers to accessing Medigap policies, whether adding coverage to Original Medicare, changing their Medigap plans, or trying to switch from Medicare Advantage to Medigap during federal enrollment periods when this is permitted. Medigap carriers refusing to write policies in these scenarios has caused consumer harm. It is an impossibility in other environments,” Haas explained. “Imagine if you turn 65, selected an auto insurance plan and then essentially could never change your coverage because carriers would not write to you. That is essentially what Delawareans have experienced.”

The legislation would also require issuers to notify those who are eligible and enrolled in their Medicare supplement policies of the dates of the open enrollment period at least 30 days before it begins and of any modification to the benefits provided by the policy under which the person is currently insured.

The bill cleared committee with virtually no discussion and now awaits consideration by the full Senate.

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Delaware

Delaware history in The News Journal archives, March 29 to April 4

Published

11 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Delaware history in The News Journal archives, March 29 to April 4

Excerpts from The News Journal archives from March 29 to April 4 include Wilmington’s national champion swimmers in 1926.
A new plaque in 1976 commemorates Delaware’s role in the Underground Railroad.
“Runaway development overwhelming Delaware” in 2006.

The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.

March 29, 1926, The Evening Journal

Acclaim for high school national champion swim team

A self-appointed committee has started a movement to publicly honor the Wilmington High School swimming team, winner of the national inter-scholastic championship on Saturday at Northwestern University, Evansville, Ill., with a banquet in the Hotel duPont on Tuesday, April 6.

Reservations at $3 a plate can be made by sending a check for that amount to Herbert B. Mearns at Wilmington Trust Company, 10th and Market streets. Frank Ford Palmer, president of the Wilmington Swimming Association, and Councilman Alexander R. Abrahams, are the other members of the committee. …

Today is a holiday at Wilmington High School in celebration of the swimming team’s honor.

For several hours, the student body, headed by the school band as an escort to the championship team, paraded on Market and other streets of the city. …

The parade was the second within 24 hours, the boys having also paraded about the city upon the arrival of the team late last night.

Members of the team faced one of life’s proudest moments at the school this morning, when before their enthusiastic and cheering fellow students, they were eulogized by school teachers and officials for their achievements as mermen. …

The team includes Coach Leroy F. Sparks, Manager C.C. Gerow Jr., Captain Frank Holt, “Bus” Palmer, Sam Reese, Jim Frazer, Jack Spargo, Leon Syfrit, Charles Hartman, Bill Brown and Bill Briggs.

March 31, 1976, The Morning News

Wilmington plaque to honor slave escape route

A plaque to commemorate Delaware’s role in the Underground Railroad during slavery will be erected late this spring in the Peter Spencer Plaza on French Street, between 8th and 9th streets.

The two-foot-by three-foot bronze emblem will have pictures of Thomas Garrett, who helped more than 2,700 slaves escape, and of Harriet Tubman, who led hundreds of slaves from the south to their freedom.

The project is sponsored by the Wilmington branch of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History through a $5,000 grant from the Delaware Bicentennial Commission.

The plaque will be erected about 25 feet from the Father and Son Statue honoring Peter Spencer. The plaza was named after Spencer in 1974 to commemorate the site of the church he founded in 1813 that was the first in the country entirely controlled by blacks.

The plaza was selected as the site for “The Underground Railroad” memorial “to permanently commemorate the spirit of freedom, self-determination and camaraderie,” according to a resolution passed by the Wilmington City Council earlier this month.

Delaware became an important link in the Underground Railroad because it was usually the “last stop before freedom” for slaves on their way to Philadelphia and other northern cities. The chain of safe homes stretched from the South into the North and Canada before the Civil War. As they moved north to freedom, blacks fleeing slavery could be hidden in the houses of antislavery whites.

April 2, 2006, Sunday News Journal

Runaway development overwhelming Delaware

Look around Delaware. Tens of thousands of people have poured in from other states, enticed by an affordable suburban lifestyle in neighborhoods framed by farms and woods – all just a short drive to the beach.

But now, look-alike houses stretch from Bear to Rehoboth Beach, every year consuming an area of land larger than Wilmington. Kent County has so many new homes that Boyd White of Magnolia can’t tell where one town starts and another ends: “The charm is disappearing.”

In old farming communities, newcomers found a peaceful rural refuge. But now, that influx has forced Middletown High School to put students in trailers. …

Vacationers and retirees from all over the East Coast have migrated to the Delaware beaches to escape metropolitan life. But now, traffic is so bad on the two-lane road to Fenwick Island that retiree Jack Weston would “rather go out in a boat than a car.”

Indian River Bay, a magnet for boaters and fishermen, is so clouded by pollutants that if Stephen Callanen goes sailing, “You can’t see the bottom when there’s a lot of toilets flushing.”

Fifteen years of growth that has outpaced Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania – in fact most of America – has forever changed much of rural Delaware. Since 1990, about 84,000 new homes have been built statewide.

But with about 100,000 more homes planned, experts fear that unless government leaders do a better job controlling land use, the prosperity and qualities that make Delaware so appealing might be lost.

“It’s a rush to destruction,” said John Hughes, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Beyond the loss of scenic vistas, growth has created unprecedented traffic jams and air and water pollution, crammed classrooms and created a pressing need for public safety services. …

That is the legacy of decades of politicians promising strong land use reform but delivering weak policies that were often ignored. As a result, hundreds of farms have been transformed into one of the region’s top housing bargains. …

Maynard Esender, a cabinetmaker who has lived for nearly 20 years in the Sussex County town of Frankford, has watched growth steadily envelop the nearby beach areas. But last year, he was stunned after nearby Millville, which has about 270 people, approved a 2,700-home subdivision – the largest in state history.

“Soon the entire Delmarva Peninsula will be paved,” Esender said. …

When nurse practitioner Maltide Cruze moved to Middletown with her husband and two sons five years ago, they envisioned rural bliss. …

Both Maltilde, who commutes to Dover, and her husband Luis, who works at Christiana Hospital, now endure rush-hour backups as Middletown’s population has doubled to 12,000.

Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.

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Delaware

Supreme Court says local elections board must hear residency challenge

Published

23 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Supreme Court says local elections board must hear residency challenge

The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered the Delaware County Board of Elections to hold a hearing on a residency challenge.
The challenge questions whether board member Melanie Leneghan, who is running for reelection on the state GOP central committee, lives in Ohio.
A previous hearing could not proceed after three of the four board members, including Leneghan, recused themselves.

In the latest development in the ongoing challenge over where a Delaware County Board of Elections member actually lives, the Ohio Supreme Court has weighed in.

On March 27, the state’s high court ruled that the Delaware County elections board must hold a hearing about the challenge to Melanie Leneghan’s residency. Leneghan is running for reelection to the position of District 19 women’s representative for the Republican State Central Committee seat in the May 5 primary.

A March 5 elections board hearing could not proceed after the two Democrat members recused themselves, along with Leneghan, a Republican, and the board could not reach a quorum. After that meeting, Velva Dunn, a Delaware County Republican Party Central Committee member, asked the Ohio Supreme Court to force the board to act.

Democrat elections board members Ed Helvey and Peg Watkins both recused themselves from the March 5 decision, citing concerns that any action they took could be perceived as partisan. Leneghan also recused herself.

Dunn challenged Leneghan’s ability to vote in Ohio, claiming Leneghan lives in South Carolina. Leneghan has denied the allegations, saying she lives in Ohio but travels out of state for work and to visit her daughter, who attends college in South Carolina. Leneghan owns two homes there.

She sold her Delaware County home in 2025 and is registered to vote at a house in Galena, of which she became a listed co-owner March 12 through a deed transfer that involved no monetary exchange, records from the county auditor’s office show.

Ohio does not have any known requirements about the amount of time a person needs to live in Ohio to be considered a resident. Voters must be a resident for at least 30 days before the election to be eligible to vote.

Ohio also does not have a process outlined in law for how recusals of elections board members should be handled. Those boards each comprise two Democrats and two Republicans.

In its ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court said Helvey, Watkins and Republican Steve Cuckler, the fourth board member, must hold a hearing about Leneghan’s challenge “forthwith.” It was not immediately clear when that meeting would take place.

Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.

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Delaware

50 boys outdoor track and field athletes to watch in Delaware in 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

50 boys outdoor track and field athletes to watch in Delaware in 2026

Since the start of 2025, Delaware boys track and field athletes have set 11 state records between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

After a winter season in which 17 performances reached the top five on the state all-time list, Delaware appears poised for another strong spring.

Our list of track and field athletes to watch (presented alphabetically) features athletes from 24 schools who compete in sprints, distance races, throws and jumps. They are the athletes we expect to be among the state’s leaders at the DIAA Championships at Dover High on May 15-16 although many new names could emerge by then.

After defending its indoor track and field state title, Middletown is in search of its second straight Division I championship. Saint Mark’s enters the season as the Division II winner in three of the past four seasons.