"It appears to me that the Fletcher administration has hired the president of an insurance company to write a program that rewards insurance companies and not teachers and state employees," Senate Democratic Leader Ed Worley said.

Mark Birdwhistell, former chief executive officer and registered lobbyist for Lexington-based CHA Health, was one of three state officials who defended the plan before the State Government Committee, warning that it would be difficult to improve.

Birdwhistell said he had no significant role in creating the plan, although Fletcher said on Friday that Birdwhistell's experience helped in negotiating the best deal possible for public employees.

"If you're negotiating with insurance companies you want somebody that understands that," Fletcher said, adding that he saw no conflict of interest.

Birdwhistell said Fletcher must have misunderstood his role. Fletcher's spokesman, Doug Hogan, agreed that the governor was misinformed.

Birdwhistell said he was consulted early in the development of the plan by other officials who were creating the state's request to insurance carriers for their proposals. He was also involved in the decision to divide the state into regions where the winning carrier would exclusively provide insurance rather than the existing practice of allowing multiple carriers, he said.

The regional strategy has drawn criticism from public employees who say the approach reduces their options.