CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The 214,000 West Virginians covered by the Public Employees Insurance Agency can expect some new or higher health care copayments while retired enrollees will see a limit to the subsidy that helps them pay premiums, which will rise 9 percent, under provisions approved Tuesday by the agency's finance board.
But officials say the retiree subsidy cap will reduce a projected $10 billion funding shortfall by half. That will allow the state to erase the remaining unfunded liability by 2040, agency Executive Director Ted Cheatham told board members. With each subsidy now at $343, the vote will limit increases to up to 3 percent a year to account for rising health care costs.
The subsidy limit sets the stage for 2012 legislative action to tackle the remaining $5 billion shortfall that involves other post-employment benefits, or OPEB. West Virginia has adopted a tough stance toward tackling these non-pension retiree costs since a 2004 national accounting standard called on government bodies to start calculating their unfunded liabilities.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.