February 16, 2010

Calls needed to stop health care cuts!

We have learned that the Legislature is considering a series of drastic cut to fill the funding deficit in your health insurance plans.

DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE.

Legislators themselves caused the problem when they underfunded your PEBB health benefits in 2008, causing a $220 million deficit. That translates into an additional $78 million in 2011, for a total of nearly $300 million.

But instead of putting back what they took, legislators are considering a range of drastic cuts, like:
  • Increasing your share of premiums by 250 percent from 12 percent to 30 percent!
  • Jacking up your deductibles to $3,000 a person!
State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has already taken the Legislature to task for what they did. Kreidler said in a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire that if the Health Care Authority were a private insurer, “the HCA would be subject to receivership proceedings.”
Unacceptable!

CALL TO ACTION:  Call legislators at 1-800-562-6000.
  • Tell them to do the right thing.  Restore the $300 million in state employee health insurance funds.
  • Tell them that only half of that needs to be state funds—the rest would be from federal and other funds.
In coming days, we will give you more background on this now that it has been exposed. And now is the time to make plans to attend Monday’s rally (details below) and Saturday’s hearings (see next item).
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