2017 insurance premiums set for government employees
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Office of Management and Enterprise
Services today approved
premium rates for health, dental, life, disability and vision insurance plans
to be offered to state, education and many local government employees, retirees
and dependents for 2017.
The rates were recommended by the Oklahoma
Employees Insurance and Benefits Board and approved by OMES Director Preston L.
Doerflinger. HealthChoice is the state’s self-funded insurance plan
administered by OMES.
The rates presented at today’s board meeting
included increases of roughly 7 to 8 percent for HealthChoice plans offered to
current employees and pre-Medicare retirees. There was a 16 percent bump to
premiums in HealthChoice Medicare supplement plans. These increases still keep
HealthChoice below the national average for rate increases among similar, large
health insurance plans since 2010, according to the board’s actuary, Aon Hewitt
Consulting.
Other 2017 HealthChoice rates include an 11.34
percent decrease for HealthChoice Focus for pre-Medicare former employees and
their covered dependents. Rates increased for the HealthChoice High Deductible
Health Plan by 6.46 percent and for the HealthChoice Dental plan by 6.73
percent. HealthChoice Life and HealthChoice Disability Plan premiums remained
the same.
“This board and the staff that works on
providing HealthChoice plans, take these decisions very, very seriously,” said
OEIBB Chairman Jimmy Williams. “It’s never easy to raise rates, we realize how
it can impact people’s lives, but HealthChoice plans are still much lower than
the industry averages.”
“We have one thing that motivates us and that
is to provide our members the best most sustainable plan possible,” Williams
said. “One innovation is our HealthChoice FOCUS in its second year now.
Developed along with Oklahoma Health Network, it offers lower out-of-pocket
costs for its members. Its premium is actually down this year.”
In addition to setting HealthChoice rates, three
other health maintenance organizations will remain as options: CommunityCare,
GlobalHealth and Aetna.
For primary current employee members, Aetna
will offer a premium of $572.56, an 11 percent increase over last year;
CommunityCare will offer a premium of $850.52, a 6.8 percent increase; and
GlobalHealth will offer a premium of $529.78, a 6 percent increase.
“We worked very hard to provide the best
options for coverage at the lowest possible rates,” said OMES Human Capital
Management Administrator Lucinda Meltabarger. “This year has been a challenging
one for state budgets and the national insurance market.”
The approved rates will take effect Jan. 1, 2017, and can be viewed at https://www.ok.gov/sib/2017_Option_Period.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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