Devereux blames gutless legislature as benefits board votes 4-3 to raise state employee health insurance rates.

The Public Employees Benefits Board today voted to raise most state employee health insurance premiums, raise or impose deductibles, and hike office visit co-payments and out-of-pocket expense limits.

But the vote was close – 4-3 – with state employee and retirees’ representatives lining up in opposition.

Federation Executive Director Greg Devereux, the state employee representative on the board, laid responsibility for what he called “an absolute travesty” squarely at the feet of the Legislature.

Lawmakers ignored Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to add funding to cover the 8 percent health care inflation cost. Instead, legislators essentially zeroed out inflation funding. The Health Care Authority’s package acted on by the board reflected that reality.

But it was Devereux who said the blame is not with the Health Care Authority or the governor, but a Legislature that “could not muster the courage” to find the funding to cover the inflation costs.

The health insurance increases amount to an 8 percent tax on state workers, Devereux said. He noted the irony that the Legislature refused to raise revenues and actually added new tax breaks to the tune of billions of dollars.

“This today is an absolute travesty...” Devereux said. “They (the Legislature) won’t tax anybody else, but they’ll tax state employees….

“I think it’s a crime.”

The Legislature “didn’t have the guts” to provide the health care funds, he said.

“They are destroying the quality of the workforce in this state,” Devereux said.

Devereux, joined by K-12 retirees representative Lee Ann Prielipp, state retirees rep Robert Portertield and non-voting K-12 rep Phil Karlberg, urged the board to turn thumbs down on the package and send it back to the governor to send it back to the Legislature to recover the 8 percent inflation costs.

Devereux, Prielipp and Porterfield voted against the package. Voting in the majority for the package were: HCA Administrator Steve Hill; state Personnel Director Eva Santos; former HCA Administrator Margaret Stanley; and Bellevue Human Resources Director Yvonne Tate.

• Download a breakdown of the increased costs here.
  

But here are the lowlights:

• Premium costs rose with inflation, so the state employee share of 12 percent still translated into a hike, except for Group Health Classic Plan, where rates declined. However, for the first time, Group Health enrollees will pay annual deductibles of up to $750 a year in the classic plan and $1,050 in the value plan. Deductibles were also instituted in the Kaiser Value Plan (but not the Kaiser Classic Plan) and Aetna. The existing annual deductible for those in the Uniform Medical Plan went from $200 for individuals and $600 for families to $250 and $750, respectively.

• Office visit co-pays will go up. For those in Group Health, that means a 250 percent increase, from $10 to $25.

• Out-of-pocket expense limit—that’s the maximum annual amount you will need to pay for most services—will take another huge hike. That’s 33 percent in the Uniform Plan alone.
  

Federation President Carol Dotlich was joined by several of the 25 or so Federation members who turned out for the PEBB meeting to testify against the plan.

Dotlich told the board state employees have already sacrificed more than $1 billion in funding for pay raises, benefits, pensions and jobs to help balance the budget.

“And now with this change, we’re looking at another 8 percent reduction in our pay package,” she said.

Ecology member Pete Kmet said the cost increases will act as a barrier to preventive health care. More routine care for children will be deferred until their health worsens and more costly care is needed, he said.

“As employees, we’re willing to pay our fair share, but this is upside down,” Kmet said.

Kim Lawler, a member at Seattle Central Community College and a member of the Higher Education Coalition Bargaining Team, said the health insurance hikes act as a deduction in pay.

“I really truly feel you need to look at this again,” Lawler said.

Joe Nilsson (Labor and Industries, Local 443) called the increases “counterproductive” and Steve Pointec (Employment Security, Local 443) called them a “horrible shame.”

The new rates go into effect Jan. 1, 2010. Open enrollment starts in late October and runs through November.

That’s it for now. Call Tuesday for the next message.

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