Louisiana House committee puts off vote on life insurance for state employees; policies will expire Dec. 31
But the Louisiana
Come
The initial rates, which came out in mid October, sought 800 percent increases in monthly premiums. Nearly every lawmaker talked Friday about the deluge of calls they received from angry constituents.
The final step was Friday when the
The new contract OGB wanted the Legislature to approve, offered term life insurance policies for 2018 at more than double 2017 prices. But that's less than what employees would have to pay if they bought life insurance on the open market and a whole less than rates forwarded in October.
Senate Finance complained about the impact of higher rates on pensioners living on fixed incomes.
"It's not fair to the oldest citizens," said state Sen.
Still, Senate Finance voted without objection to accept the new terms.
Teague then hustled across the State Capitol to meet with
Some legislators were annoyed that Teague waited so long when he suspected back in April, based on the losses the company providing the insurance had suffered, that the rates likely would go up.
"I'm very disappointed," said state Rep.
Since policyholders only pay half the premium, higher rates means government agencies are going pay about
"It's not good for us to vote on something on Friday, have our constituents receive a letter on Tuesday telling what their new rates were before they have a chance to give feedback to us," said Appropriations Chairman
Henry said the panel would vote "sometime in the future" but is cognizant that postponing too long would mean no life insurance for any state employee or retiree.
Teague wanted a quick decision because the state needs to integrate the new information into the payroll and pensions systems. The policies expire on
In 2017, everybody paid
Since the government employer pays half of the premium that works out to about
In 2017, both would have paid
"We are hopeful that they will reconvene, reconsider and approve the contract," Teague said after the hearing.
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