This message is for employees who are members of the Regular Employee Benefits Group:
To address rapidly rising health care insurance costs, and to continue to provide sustainable and exceptional health benefits, King County and its labor partners agreed to a monthly employee premium share and an increase in the Spouse Benefit Access Fees for employees who are part of the Regular Employee Benefits Group. You are receiving this email as a member of the Regular Employee Benefits Group.
If you enroll in either of the Regence BlueShield medical plans (KingCare PPO or KingCare Select) for 2025, you will begin paying a monthly premium share for those plans. If you cover a spouse who has access to other employer-based medical coverage, there will also be an increase in the Benefit Access Fees for the Regence plans.
The monthly premium share for employees enrolled in either Regence medical plan will apply as follows:
-
The KingCare PPO medical plan employee premium share will be $75 per month.
-
KingCare Select medical plan employee premium share will be $50 per month.
-
The premium share is the same whether you cover only yourself, or you also cover family members on your medical benefits.
-
The SmartCare HMO (Kaiser Permanente) medical plan has no monthly premium share.
The Benefit Access Fee, which employees pay when they cover a spouse or state-registered domestic partner who has access to other employer-based medical coverage, is increasing for the Regence medical plans:
-
The KingCare PPO medical plan Benefit Access Fee increases from $125 to $200 per month.
-
The KingCare Select medical plan Benefit Access Fee increases from $0 to $75 per month.
-
The SmartCare HMO (Kaiser) medical plan Benefit Access Fee remains at $0 per month.
During Open Enrollment, Nov. 1–15, you will be able to select the 2025 benefit plans that work best for you and your family. Watch the short video below to learn more.
For many decades, King County has proudly partnered with its unions to provide the highest quality and most cost-effective benefit plans possible for employees. This labor-management partnership has resulted in only minimal cost increases for employees and premium-free benefits across PPO and HMO (Preferred Provider Organization and Health Maintenance Organization) plans. During this same time, most other employees in Washington and across the country have paid a percentage of the monthly cost.
Like many other employers across the nation, we are facing rapidly rising health care insurance costs. These costs escalated rapidly after the COVID-19 pandemic. To address these costs and to continue to provide sustainable and exceptional health benefits, the County and its labor partners worked together and agreed to a give-and-take package that reflects the minimum changes needed to stabilize funding. Whereas the County typically contributes 4% to benefit funding annually, the County will increase its contribution to 9% for 2025. For the Regence plans only, the parties agreed to introduce a modest monthly employee premium share and an increase in Spouse Benefit Access Fees. These changes are the most effective methods for ensuring the County can continue to provide the highest quality and most cost-effective benefit plans for employees.
The Kaiser HMO plan will remain premium-free. For the Regence plans, the new employee medical plan premium share for 2025 is significantly lower than what most employees pay at other public and private sector organizations.
For employees who opt for a Regence medical plan, this is a change to the current out-of-pocket structure. Extensive communications and educational resources will be available soon to help you understand and plan for the changes and make the right benefits choices for you and your family during Open Enrollment, Nov. 1–15.
|
