RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina State Auditor's Office is reviewing the finances of the State Health Plan after it logged a $65 million shortfall this fiscal year.

The auditor's General Counsel Tim Hoegemeyer said Thursday that the financial office has started studying the State Health Plan's oversight and budget forecasting methods.

The State Health Plan provides coverage to nearly 650,000 public school teachers, state employees, retirees and their dependents.

The plan was predicted to have a $50 million surplus for the fiscal year that ended July 1, but it logged the shortfall instead.

A projection from the plan's officials said the health care program could run out of money by March and lose more than $240 million by the middle of 2009.