CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Public employees in West Virginia will soon be asked to pay more for health insurance, according to a proposal from the Public Employees Insurance Agency — also known as PEIA.
The cost teachers and public employees pay for PEIA was a major issue in 2018 when teachers went on strike.
The cost of PEIA was then frozen for years.
“I told them point blank, the PEIA premiums would not go up on my watch, period,” Gov. Jim Justice said during an October 2021 briefing in reference to discussions with PEIA.
Then last year as PEIA struggled, lawmakers took action, with the governor’s approval, giving out pay raises while reestablishing that employees will pay 20 percent of their premiums — a number lawmakers said had slid to just 17 percent and endangered PEIA.
Now this month, PEIA said rising prescription drug costs and increased reimbursement to providers are among reasons for across-the-board increases.
PEIA is proposing a 14-percent increase in premiums, nearly $32 a month for the average state employee. The proposal also includes a 40-percent increase in deductibles, $355 more on average for the year, with additional increases for out-of-pocket maximums, copays and the spousal surcharge.
Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association, told WSAZ that salaries are not keeping up with benefit changes, and the proposal could worsen the state’s teacher shortage.
“We just can’t finance it on the backs of the employees,” he said. “Everybody needs to go to the table and have some skin in the game, not just the employees.”
So WSAZ’s Curtis Johnson took the issue to Justice on Wednesday.
“What is your position on PEIA’s proposal?” Johnson asked. “What is your message to public employees and their families, who now face sizable increases and less money in their paycheck as you leave office?”
“Curtis, I think I can answer this one quickly. You know, they’re proposing what they have to propose. You know, I mean that’s that’s how it’s all set up,” he replied during Wednesday’s briefing. “I hope to goodness that future governors will do everything they possibly can, you know, to be able to minimize the burden on our people.”
Justice recommends the next governor continue to fund pay raises to offset the costs as the state has done for several years.
WSAZ reached out to both candidates for governor, Republican Patrick Morrisey and Democrat Steve Williams, asking whether they support continued pay raises. The station did not receive a response from either candidate before 6 p.m. Wednesday.
PEIA plans to finalize any changes to its proposal by late next week in time for public hearings in November.
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