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Employee health costs continue upward trend by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff
According to the Group Insurance Commission, health plan premiums are rising in some cases as high as 22 percent in the next fiscal year, though the largest increases will be seen by employees enrolled in the GIC Indemnity Plans and Commonwealth PPO. Rates for several HMOs are rising more modestly, between 1 percent and nearly 10 percent. The costs for one HMO, Health New England, are virtually unchanged for both individual and family coverage. A preface to the GIC's 2002-2003 Benefits Decision Guide said proposals forwarded by health care insurers for the coming year rose by a weighted average of 19 percent, while Acting Gov. Jane Swift's FY03 budget plan calls for an increase of just 4.5 percent for the GIC. According to the booklet, "the difference between the 19 [percent] and the 4.5 [percent] means that the GIC could have a budget shortfall as high as $90 million. We did, through rate negotiations, drop the shortfall to below $90 million, but the gap remained very significant and we had to address it." One option was to increase the percentage of premium costs paid by employees, currently set at 15 percent. Citing opposition by legislators and public employees unions, the commission opted to raise copayments and deductibles, effective July 1. For GIC Indemnity and Plus plan members, physician office visits will cost $10, while Commonwealth PPO and HMO members will pay $15 per visit. Prescription costs are also increasing, in some cases by $2 to $20, depending on the drug. Also increasing are deductibles for inpatient hospitalization, outpatient surgery and emergency room care. The GIC open enrollment
period begins April 8 and continues through May 10. |
