State workers to pay more in premiums

Gold care gets deductible as panel OKs plan changes

A state board on Tuesday approved higher health insurance premiums for state employees and the addition of a deductible to the most popular plan.





RELATED ARTICLES

http://www.arkansas…">Private option enrollees to chip in under proposalhttp://www.arkansas…">System boosts its steel mill investing http://www.arkansas…">Teacher retiree fund to sell off real estatehttp://www.arkansas…">Sebelius: Foes leapt on health law http://www.arkansas…">Medicare coverage urged for lung test

The rates and benefits approved by the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Board are designed to cover the rising costs of medical care while complying with a state law, passed during a special session last year, that requires all plans offered to state and public school employees to have a deductible.

The current gold plan, which covers about 85 percent of the 28,000 state employees enrolled in the state's plans, does not have a deductible.

Following the recommendation of the board's Benefits Subcommittee, the board postponed approval of rates and benefits for plans that cover about 47,000 teachers and other public school employees.

Tony Thurman, superintendent of the Cabot School District, was the only member of the 13-member board to vote against approving the rates and benefits for state employees.

He said he wanted the rates for state and public school employees to be considered at the same time.

"I'm uncomfortable with making preliminary decisions just to get things done," Thurman said.

The plans for state and school employees are identical, but school employees pay higher premiums, which officials for the Department of Finance and Administration's Employee Benefits Division have said is because the state employees' plans receive more taxpayer funding.

At a meeting earlier this month, subcommittee member Jeff Altemus, deputy superintendent of the Marion School District, said he wanted to see information on plans in other states before recommending rates and benefits for Arkansas' school employee plans.

Under the proposal approved by the board Tuesday, the state employees' gold plan, which covers about 24,000 employees, will be renamed the premium plan.

The monthly premium will increase about 8 percent, from $96.68 to $104.78, for individual coverage and about 14 percent for family coverage, from $423.60 to $484.34.

The plan will have a deductible of $500 for individual coverage or $1,000 for family coverage, but the required co-payments for some services will be lower than under the current gold plan.

For instance, the charge for a doctor's visit will decrease from $35 to $25, and the charge for a specialist visit will fall from $70 to $50.

The Benefits Subcommittee had recommended a $1,000 individual deductible for the premium plan.

Board member Janis Harrison, a manager in the Finance and Administration Department's Office of Personnel Management, proposed the lower deductible.

She said the deductible will likely be increased in future years, but "if we do a step process to that, it will be easier for state employees to accept," Harrison said. Board members said they would consider increasing the deductible in 2016.

The silver plan, which has a deductible of $1,000 for an individual or $2,000 for a family, will be eliminated. The 1,500 employees in the plan will be moved to the premium plan unless they choose a different tier.

The premium for the current silver plan is $62.72 for an individual or $327.68 for a family.

The bronze plan, which has a deductible of $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a family, will be replaced with the classic plan, with a deductible of $2,500 for an individual or $5,000 for a family.

About 2,300 employees are in the bronze plan.

The monthly premium for the classic plan will be $46.48 for individual coverage or $306 for family coverage.

Employees in the bronze plan currently don't pay a premium for individual coverage. The premium for family coverage in the bronze plan is $93.08.

The state also will add a new option, the basic plan, which will have a deductible of $6,600 for an individual or $13,200 for a family.

The basic plan will have no premium for individual coverage and a premium of $160.64 a month for families.

The state will contribute $25 a month for individuals and $50 a month for families to health-savings accounts for employees in the classic and basic plans. Money deposited into such accounts is not subject to federal income tax as long as it is spent on medical expenses.

Under an initiative the board adopted last month, employees who fail to see a doctor for a health screening by Nov. 1 will pay an extra $75 per month in premiums. Employees will be given credit for any doctor's visit involving a health screening since Jan. 1, 2013.

The rates do not account for savings resulting from legislative changes recommended by the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Program Legislative Task Force.

The task force chairman, state Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, has said he plans to ask Gov. Mike Beebe to call a special session to adopt the changes later this month or early next month.

Employee Benefits Division Director Bob Alexander said the main legislative change that would affect the state employees' plans is giving the division the flexibility to limit the plans' coverage of weight-loss surgeries.

The potential savings from that change, about $5 million, would have only a small potential effect on rates for those plans, Alexander said.

Metro on 06/18/2014

Upcoming Events