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For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2023
Contact:
Cassie Nichols
[email protected]
Kelly Administration Fiscal Responsibility Enables Health Care Commission to Stabilize State Employee Health Benefits Five Years in a Row
TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly today applauded the Kansas Health Care Commission for continuing its recent trend of not increasing contribution rates for the State Employee Health Benefits Plan. This is the fifth consecutive year that employee contributions for the state’s health insurance plan have been reduced or held flat, in large part due to the Kelly administration’s responsible budgeting. In the eight years prior to Governor Kelly taking office, employee contributions increased five times while the state’s contributions decreased.
“I am pleased with the Health Care Commission’s decision to hold flat the amount that state employees pay to receive health care coverage,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I strongly believe that the state budget should not be balanced on the backs of our public servants, as had been the case in the years before I took office.”
The trend toward lowering and stabilizing premiums allows employees to project their health insurance costs over time. Previous spikes in the cost of health insurance meant that employees could not accurately determine their take-home pay from year to year. Higher health insurance premiums also led to a net decrease in employee pay and had a negative effect on employee morale and turnover.
Secretary of Administration Adam Proffitt serves as the chair of the Health Care Commission.
“Employee benefits are a vital part of the puzzle in making the State of Kansas an employer of choice,” said Secretary Proffitt. “I appreciate the work that my fellow commissioners have put into making health insurance costs stable and predictable for state employees.”
The State Employee Health Benefits Plan is the state’s employee health insurance plan. The plan covers more than 40,000 state employees and retirees through plans administered by private health insurance companies.
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