About 1,000 NIU employees and their family members will be forced to choose new health insurance plans this summer.

The Illinois Department of Central Management Services announced Tuesday it will drop Health Alliance HMO, OSF Health Plans and Unicare HMO from the available insurance options, NIU President John Peters said in a letter sent to staff Tuesday. Health Alliance is the plan that most NIU employees rely on; CMS has offered it for more than two decades. This change will affect employees statewide.

However, in an effort to combat CMS’s announcement, State Rep. Robert Pritchard (R-Hinckley) and other Illinois lawmakers filed a resolution Wednesday in the Illinois House of Representatives asking the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to reconsider its elimination of the health insurance option Health Alliance.

“Before any decision is finalized, we want to get some important questions answered,” Pritchard said, “and to make sure that CMS understands that being forced to find a new insurance carrier and maybe a new doctor is very stressful for these families.”

The change in plan options affects about 1,000 NIU employees and 5,000 of their dependents. Peters said CMS plans to replace these options with different managed care programs, but he is worried that the options will not be honored by DeKalb-area health care providers.

“This is going to be a very difficult situation for employees, unless CMS offers alternative HMO options,” said Steve Cunningham, associate vice president of Administration and Human Resource Services. So far, CMS has not offered any alternatives.

The current care plans will expire June 30; in May, during the state’s benefits choice period, employees affected by this change will have to choose a new state-approved coverage plan that will go into effect July 1, Pritchard said.

“This is very short notice for all of these families to research and make such an important decision,” Pritchard said.