Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Groups of state workers are now eligible to apply to pull out of the state's beleaguered health insurance program that recently cut benefits.
The board of directors of the Public Employees Benefit Program Thursday adopted a regulation that permits groups of 300 or more to leave the program and seek health policies from other sources.
Teamsters Local 14 in Las Vegas, which represents Nevada Highway Patrol troopers and some other peace officers, is expected to be the first to apply to the program to provide coverage for its members.
Gary Wolff, lobbyist for the Nevada Highway Patrol Association, said he was pleased with the regulation and said the Teamsters would file its application by the end of the month. He said the union would take up to 600 employees out of the state system that covers about 50,000 employees, dependents and retirees.
The Legislature in 1999 authorized groups of 300 to leave the system, provided it did not result in a 5 percent or more increase in premiums to the remaining members. Since then three sets of regulations have been proposed to carry out the law but they have never gotten through the full approval process.
The regulations must be passed by the Legislative Commission, which meets later this month.
There's been resistance to the regulations by some state workers, who fear that groups of healthy employees will decide to leave the system, leaving the poorer risks behind and forcing either higher premiums or lower benefits.
The insurance program was near insolvency in 1999 when the Legislature infused an additional $26 million into the system. The special session of the Legislature in 2002 also pumped an additional $18 million into the system.
The state pays the premium for its employees, who must pick up the cost for their dependents. The Legislature authorized $495 a month this year to cover the premium for each worker and $558 a month next year.
When a group leaves the system, the state will pay the premium to the new insurance carrier. The board of directors decided Thursday that if the new insurance company's rates are lower, the state will retain the extra money.
archive
