Tag: Public Employees

Locations Picked for Hearings on Insurance Funding Solution

A task force subcommittee has chosen 22 locations across West Virginia to hold public hearings on an insurance program for West Virginia teachers and other public employees.

A public outreach subcommittee of the Public Employees Insurance Agency task force met Thursday in Charleston. It chose the communities for the meetings later this spring, and the staff of the governor’s office would schedule dates and meeting places.

Task force members say the meetings would be held either on Saturdays or weekday evenings.

Gov. Jim Justice and the Legislature agreed to freeze PEIA premiums, deductibles and co-pays for the coming year and provided $29 million in supplemental funding. Teachers want a more permanent funding fix.

Justice also signed a 5 percent pay raise for teachers last month to end their nine-day strike.

W.Va. Public Workers Could Face More Cuts in Health Benefits

West Virginia public workers could face another round of health insurance benefit cuts.

Public Employees Insurance Agency executive director Ted Cheatham says the agency has to cut about $60 million for the 2016-2017 plan because state funding isn’t expected to increase.

Cheatham tells The Charleston Gazette-Mail that PEIA staff will present a list of possible cuts to the agency’s Finance Board in October. Following public hearings in November, the board will approve the 2016-2017 plan in December.

The PEIA imposed $40 million in cuts for the current plan that went into effect July 1. Those cuts were achieved primarily through increasing deductibles and co-pays.

The agency provides health insurance for employees of the state, public schools and other government entities.

W.Va. Lawmakers Pass Budget Relying on Reserves

West Virginia lawmakers have passed a budget that dips into millions of dollars in reserves and gives public employees raises.
 
The Senate voted 25-9 and the House of Delegates voted 77-18 Friday to pass next year’s budget. The bill would take $147 million from the state’s $922 million Rainy Day Fund to cover a projected shortfall.
 
The plan includes $1,000 across-the-board raises for teachers, 2-percent raises for school service personnel and $504 raises for public employees.
 
House lawmakers, who face re-election this year, opposed increasing the cigarette or sales taxes.

The budget adds $5 million for a Medicaid program that offers seniors in-home care. It also strips $9 million from the attorney general’s consumer protection program.
 
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin will now consider line-by-line vetoes in the spending plan.
 

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