CalPERS Plan To Raise Health Care Premiums Receives Final Approval
On Wednesday, the CalPERS Board of Administration voted to give final approval to a proposal to raise public workers' and retirees' health insurance premiums by an average of 2.9%, the lowest rate increase in 14 years, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 6/17).
The health plan changes will affect about 1.29 million active and retired public workers and their families (California Healthline, 6/17).
Rate Hike Details
Under the proposal, basic HMO rates would increase by an average of 3.4%, compared with 6.6% in 2009.
The basic HMO rates vary from a low of 0.32% for Blue Shield Net Value to a high of 4.9% for Kaiser Permanente plans (Sacramento Business Journal, 6/17).
CalPERS' proposal also calls for raising Medicare HMO rates by about 0.27%, compared with 1.6% in 2009.
Although PPO rates did not increase in 2009, CalPERS' plan would raise basic PPO premiums by 3.29% and increase Medicare PPO rates by 1.68%.
CalPERS estimates that it will spend about $5.72 billion on health care this year (California Healthline, 6/17). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.