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Rep. Windol Weaver’s Bill Would Require State Employees to Contribute to Health Insurance Costs

AUGUSTA – The State of Maine pays 100 percent of the cost of health insurance for state employees. Rep. Windol Weaver is looking to change that with a bill to require state employees to pay part of the cost of their health insurance, starting at 5 percent and reaching 15 percent in the third year.

The issue will reach high visibility on April 27, when the State and Local Government Committee holds a public hearing on the legislation. It has already gained attention in the halls of the State House, because the bill would require legislators to contribute to their insurance coverage for the first time.

Rep. Weaver (R-York) knows the bill, LD 417, is controversial; but he believes it is the right thing to do at a time when state revenues are very tight. “I might not win any popularity contests with the state employee unions,” he said, “but I think it’s time for state workers to contribute towards insurance costs the same way private sector employees do.”

The legislation, entitled “An Act to Require State Employees to Pay 15% of their Health Insurance Costs,” has nine cosponsors in the House and Senate. All nine are Republicans, including Rep. Josh Tardy (R-Newport), leader of the House Republicans.

According to figures provided by the Office of Employee Health and Benefits, the bill would save $2.34 million in the first year, with state workers paying 5 percent of the premium cost. The savings to the General Fund would rise to $4.72 million in the second year and $7.089 million in the third year, when the employee contribution would hit the maximum point of 15 percent.

A fact sheet produced by the Legislature’s Office of Fiscal and Program Review shows that premiums paid by the state this year reached $109.9 million to cover 13,340 active state employees. Premiums average $687 a month, or $8,244 for the year. The state also provides family coverage, with 50 percent of the cost paid by employees.

Rep. Weaver said the 15 percent level would put state employees on a par with the national norms for the private sector. A March 2009 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that, on average, employees with company-sponsored insurance pay 16 percent of the cost of their own coverage and 27 percent of the cost of family coverage.

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