State health plan users may see premium increases under SC House budget proposal

Joseph Bustos, The StateState

State employees and teachers on the state health plan may see an increase in their health insurance premiums for the first time in 12 years.

Under the House Ways and Means proposal, those on the health plan will see their health insurance rates go up by $36.76 a month, or roughly $441 a year.

The state would chip in an additional $89.3 million toward the health plan, under the House Ways and Means proposal approved Wednesday and sent to the full House for consideration.

If the budget writers opted to pay $112 million more a year toward health insurance, those on the health plan would not have seen a premium increase.

Gov. Henry McMaster, in his executive budget proposal, called for a study to see how the state could cut the cost of ever-increasing health insurance.

The increase would not apply to retirees on the state health plan, as their premiums would stay the same.

Budget writers had $666 million in recurring money and $1.25 billion of one-time money to allocate this year. The House budget proposal includes a roughly $200 million tax cut by reducing the highest income tax rate from 6.2% to 6%, reducing how much money lawmakers would have to spend.

State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, a longtime advocate for state employees, said those on the health plan need to take advantage of state’s wellness benefits.

“We need to cut cost, the insurance cost, and I don’t know that it’s fair for me to whine every year about covering the cost if we’re not asking our state employees to be responsible and take advantage of what (South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority) and our benefits people are offering,” Cobb-Hunter said.

State Rep. Chris Murphy, R-Dorchester, said the state health plan has seen an increase in doctor visits and hospital emergency room visits, which has driven up the cost.

“Unfortunately, this year, with the the the amount of recurring dollars that we had, which was tight, we just weren’t able to cover 100%,” Murphy said.