2016 insurance premiums set for government employees
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) on Tuesday approved premium rates for health, dental, life, disability and vision
insurance products to be offered to state, education and many local government
employees, retirees and dependents for 2016.
The rates were recommended by the Oklahoma Employees Insurance
and Benefits Board and approved by OMES Director Preston L. Doerflinger.
The rates presented at the Friday, Aug. 14, board meeting
included overall increases of 4.35 percent for the self-funded HealthChoice PPO
plans offered to current employees and pre-Medicare retirees and a 5.5 percent increase
for the HealthChoice Medicare supplement plans. These increases are consistent
with rate increases of similar, large health insurance plans, according to the
board’s actuary, Aon Hewitt Consulting.
HealthChoice is the state’s self-funded insurance plan
administered by OMES.
Other 2016 HealthChoice rates included a 1.4 percent increase
in the HealthChoice High Deductible Health Plan premium, and a small increase in
premiums for the age-rated portion of the HealthChoice Life Insurance Plan. The
premiums for the HealthChoice Dental Plan and the HealthChoice Disability Plan
will remain unchanged for 2016.
“While we continue
to be fortunate with lower than expected cost increases, we remain committed in
our efforts to contain costs while providing quality health insurance coverage
for Oklahoma’s public employees,” said acting board Chairman Jimmy Williams.
“HealthChoice will introduce several cost-saving measures for 2016. One measure
is the launch of a new plan, called HealthChoice FOCUS. This new plan has been
developed in cooperation with Oklahoma Health Network and will offer lower
out-of-pocket costs to pre-Medicare former employees and their covered dependents.”
In addition to setting HealthChoice rates, OMES awarded four
2016 contracts to health maintenance organizations (HMO). For 2016, existing
HMOs CommunityCare and Global Health will be joined by two additional HMOs, Aetna
and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
For primary members, Aetna will offer a premium of $515.82
and Blue Cross Blue Shield will offer a premium of $595.34. CommunityCare and
GlobalHealth premiums will see overall increases of 11.9 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.
“Even in the face of a tight state budget, we tried to be
sensitive to the needs of members and provide the best options for coverage at
the lowest possible rates,” said OMES Human Capital Management Administrator Lucinda
Meltabarger.
The approved rates will take effect Jan. 1, 2016 and can be
viewed here: http://ok.gov/sib/Member/Premiums/index.html
Media Contact
JOHN ESTUS
Director of Public Affairs
(405) 521-3097 | john.estus@omes.ok.gov
 About the Office of Management and Enterprise Services
The Office of Management and Enterprise Services
provides financial, property, purchasing, human resources and
information technology services to all state agencies, and assists the
Governor’s Office on budgetary policy matters. Our mission: Supporting our partners through unified business services. For more information, visit OMES.OK.gov.
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