In spite of the rising costs of health insurance brought on by ObamaCare, the premiums paid by current teachers and education support personnel will stay level in 2015 at $15/month for individual plans and $177/month for family plans. Co-pays for medical care will also remain unchanged, as will the rates for retirees.
The board that oversees the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Program (PEEHIP), which provides medical coverage to roughly 300,000 Alabamians and dental coverage to another 240,000, voted Monday to keep the premiums and co-pays unchanged next year.
However, PEEHIP officials estimate their budget shortfalls in 2016 and 2017 to be $345 million and $417 million respectively. That will make it very difficult for the state to patch the growing hole in the program, which is being strained by skyrocketing costs brought on by a growing number of retirees and onerous ObamaCare mandates.
“ObamaCare is driving up the cost of healthcare for citizens and employers in Alabama, and the State of Alabama employs a lot of people, including teachers,” House Education Budget Chairman Bill Poole told Yellowhammer in January. “It is going to put a lot of strain and stress on the state’s budgets to try to pay for these added costs.”
PEEHIP faced a $220 million shortfall this year, but the Legislature voted to raise the state’s share of insurance from $714/month per education employee to $780/month, in an effort to keep teachers from taking the hit. PEEHIP also plans to use over $100 million from a retiree trust fund to patch the hole this year.
A spokesperson for Gov. Robert Bentley said the increased money for PEEHIP was “one of [the governor’s] top education budget issues” and called it “a good win for teachers and support personnel.”
House Speaker Mike Hubbard added that he was “proud that the Legislature and Governor were able to provide needed funding to PEEHIP to ensure that our educators and education retirees would not have to pay a dime out of pocket towards their increasing healthcare costs, unlike many in the private sector.”
Health insurance rates for Alabama teachers will stand in stark contrast to rates for most individuals, businesses and families in the private sector, many of whom have seen their premiums rise by 60 percent or more in the wake of the president’s healthcare law.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
