Affordable Council Health Insurance
Possible changes to health insurance for WVU employees
Users of the Public Employees Insurance Agency could see changes in their health insurance coverage in the near future.
Members presented possible changes to plans A and B and the possible creation of a Plan C at Tuesday night’s public hearing of the PEIA Finance Board.
“What you’re going to hear tonight is not going to make you happy. We know a large number of you will think this is unfair,” said Robert Ferguson, chairman of the Finance Board.
Changes to Plan A include increasing the annual deductible by $25 or $50 for singles and $50 or $100 for families, increasing the family out-of-pocket maximum to twice the individual maximum and increasing the lifetime maximum from $1 million to $1.5 million.
Changes to Plan B include creating a Consumer Directed Plan with a single deductible of $1,200 and a family deductible of $2,400, as well as adding a Health Savings Account costing an estimated $36 a year.
Plan C, known as the “West Virginia Only” plan, would provide the same coverage as Plan A, but users must go to a doctor who practices and is located in West Virginia.
Many audience members from border counties were concerned about hospital locations under Plan C. Some said hospitals in different states were closer than the nearest one in West Virginia.
Plan A will see an 8 percent increase and Plan B will see a 4 percent increase; however, if Plan C is adopted, Plan A will only see a 4 percent increase.
Currently health insurance in West Virginia is based on salaries instead of the health of a person.
“We are the only state in the union where your premiums are based on what you make,” Ferguson said.
The panel fielded questions pertaining to spouse premiums, wellness programs, co-pay increases, generic drug prescriptions, medical assistance in border states and life insurance.
“We want to provide you the very best health care we can at the very best price you can afford,” Ferguson said.
Not all members of the audience were happy with the thought of coverage increases.
West Virginia University Faculty Senate Chair Nigel Clark pointed out that as a land-grant institution, WVU’s strength lies in hiring and retaining excellent faculty members.
“The only way we can retain and recruit an excellent faculty and staff is that we must offer them an outstanding package,” Clark said.
The University must be competitive nationally when recruiting, he said, but its salaries are already below many peer institutions.
Not providing a good benefits package to potential employees will make future recruiting efforts difficult, Clark said.
“In light of state recommendations that there be no raises for 2009-10, the Advisory Council of Faculty urges the state and West Virginia PEIA to implement a moratorium on any increases on PEIA premiums, co-payment deductible, out-of-pocket maximum and/or decreases in medical pharmacy benefits to all state employees, both active and retired,” said Roy Nutter, WVU professor and member of the WV Advisor Council of Faculty.
Audience member Marianne Ferris pointed out the salaries across the entire state, not just WVU, are already at low levels.
“The premium increases for both actives and retirees … those are costs that are put onto those who can least afford to pay those costs,” Ferris said.
Tom Fletcher, a Berkley County resident, said it is important for the board to hear what happens to public employees, but not to hold the employees hostage by the cost of coverage.
“There is no honor in what you are proposing,” he said.
“Nickel and diming your employees year after year is not health care reform.”
The Finance Board will hold two more meetings, one today in Wheeling, W.Va., and one Thursday in Huntington, W.Va., before reporting back to the state.
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