A state panel recommended across-the-board rate increases Thursday for state employees' health insurance next year. The increases range from 6 percent to almost 16 percent, depending on the plan that someone chooses.
That’s the biggest bump since at least 2010, but officials told The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt it’s necessary to cover rising healthcare costs:
“We got spoiled,” said Frank Wilson, administrator of the Employee Group Insurance Department. “While no rate increase is good, we have averaged significantly below what our peers in other states, both in public and private sectors, have in terms of cost increases.” Wilson described the 2017 increases as a catch-up. “We knew it would come at some point, and we can’t overstate the fact that a fairly significant part of our rate increase for next year is due to the fact that the rates that are currently in force for the current calendar year are subsidized about 2 percent,” he said, calling this year’s rates artificially low.
State employees who are eligible can choose from one of three HMOs, or the state's self-insured group. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association told The Journal Record that it will be a burden on workers who haven't gotten a raise.
The move came hours after the Oklahoma Employees Insurance and Benefits Board made the rate recommendations for HealthChoice and three health maintenance organizations - CommunityCare, Global Health, and Aetna. Blue Cross Blue Shield did not submit rates for 2017.
HealthChoice High rates will increase by 8.4 percent. That's the state's self-funded insurance plan through the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. That amount would've been greater, but eCapitol's Shawn Ashley reports the board agreed to subsidize the rates with $6.2 million from its reserves:
Rate increases also were approved for the three health maintenance organizations that will offer health coverage to state employees: CommunityCare, GlobalHealth and Aetna. Blue Cross Blue Shield, which offered coverage for the current plan year, did not submit rates for 2017. For primary members, Aetna will offer a premium of $572.56, an increase of 11.2 percent; Community Care, $850.52, a 6.8 percent increase; and GlobalHealth, $529.78, a 6.0 percent increase. While employees' premiums will increase, their benefit allowance, which is set in statute, will remain unchanged. The benefit allowance for an employee only will be $640.98 and increases as dependents are added up to $1,677.96 for an employee, spouse and children, said Jimmy Trotter, director of OMES' employees' benefits department. The board also approved four vision plans and their rates for the 2017 plan year. That is a reduction from seven for the current plan year, Trotter noted, as a result of SB0804.
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