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October 05, 2001
176% Insurance Increase for Col. Employees
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That's on top of double-digit price increases state employees saw in 2001.
The new increases stem from rate increases by HMOs and state laws that cap government contributions for workers' benefits, the state documents said.
In Pueblo County, where the average out-of-pocket cost for health insurance will rise 236 percent and cost a family of four from $500 to $800 a month, workers are calling the rate hikes unconscionable.
They're lambasting public officials who negotiated the contracts with HMOs, the Post reports.
Unlike private businesses, which can stabilize employees' health care costs by increasing their subsidies of workers' premiums each year, state agencies are held to strict spending limits imposed by the legislature, forcing employees to bear most of the cost increases.
The state government is the largest employer in Colorado. The cost of health insurance for state employees in Pueblo and surrounding communities will be the highest paid by any state employees nationwide, the Post reports, citing data from Workplace Economics Inc. in Washington.
A coalition of employee rights groups has appealed to Gov. Bill Owens for emergency financial relief, hoping to get the issue addressed during the special legislative session now under way.
Sen. Bill Thiebaut, D-Pueblo, is expected to introduce legislation before the Oct. 5 end of the special session that would give state employees $3 million toward health insurance costs. The money would go to Pueblo County residents first, then to other areas with abnormally high health care costs.
That breaks down to about $11 per Pueblo-area state employee, an amount workers say is embarrassingly inadequate.
"You might as well just keep your 11 bucks 'cause it's not going to do diddly squat," said Anthony Bonfiglio, manager of the University of Southern Colorado post office and president of the university's classified staff council.
Bonfiglio pays $298 a month to insure himself, his wife and children. That will jump to $754 on Jan. 1. The Bonfiglio family plans to switch coverage to his wife's employer - Pueblo County, which offers much less expensive health benefits.
But Bonfiglio worries about his co-workers, especially university groundskeepers and secretarial and janitorial staff.
"We're killing ourselves here for our state, and this is how our state is taking care of us?" said Lupe Quintana, a single mother and administrative assistant at the University of Southern Colorado. "There are a lot of people who are going to drop (their health insurance), and there's a lot of people that will end up quitting (their jobs) altogether."
To view the Denver Post article, click here.