Federal employees' health insurance premiums to rise 8.8 percent

[The Straight Story]

Federal employees' health insurance premiums to rise 8.8 percent
By Alyssa Rosenberg [e-mail] September 29, 2009

The average amount federal employees pay for their health care will rise 8.8 percent in 2010, the Office of Personnel Management announced on Tuesday.

"An 8.8 percent increase is not an increase we feel comfortable with," said Nancy Kichak, associate director for strategic human resource policy at OPM. "It's not one that we would like to have to see our enrollees bear, but unfortunately we're a victim of the market. This is the cost we're experiencing."

The total average premium increase for plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program will be 7.4 percent, or $25.57 per pay period, OPM said. Of that figure, the government will absorb $16.35 per pay period, increasing its contribution to employees' health care costs by 6.8 percent. That leaves federal employees with an average increase of $9.21 in their premiums, or 8.8 percent.

Broken down by type of coverage, the typical employee will see premiums increase by $5.98 per pay period for individual coverage, and by $12.87 per pay period for family coverage.

Kichak said a number of factors are driving the increase, including the rising cost of health care in the United States, the aging of the federal workforce and the fact that 90,000 enrollees left the Blue Cross Blue Shield Standard Option. Many who switched to other plans were healthy, leaving the Standard Option with less income from enrollees who needed minimal care.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=43693&dcn=todaysnews

[Kutjara]

1. Wow! The health insurance industry must feel they have...

...absolutely nothing to worry about, if they pull a stunt like this right in the middle of one of the biggest healthcare debates in US history. They couldn't have sent a clearer message about who's really in control if they'd hung a banner saying "Fuck you, America" on the Washington Monument.