CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice promised to adjust salary tiers for the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA) so state workers receiving raises won’t lose the extra money by being bumped into a higher-cost insurance bracket.
PEIA is based on ability to pay, featuring 10 salary tiers throughout the system.
Justice said Monday he is asking the PEIA Finance Board to increase the tiers by $2,700 — a move helping 14,000 state workers who would have been elevated into a higher-priced insurance tier based on their salary increases.
“Again, I promised these people, didn’t I?” Justice said. “I promised these people their costs wouldn’t go up.”
PEIA’s plan for the coming fiscal year was frozen after teachers went on a statewide strike during the last legislative session over complaints that insurance costs were going up faster than their pay could absorb. State workers received on average 5 percent raises after the nine-day strike that stretched from February to March.
The change in PEIA tiers would address an unintended consequence of the raises. The PEIA task force could take action when it meets Thursday.
Though Justice called Monday’s news conference to discuss PEIA, he devoted the opening 15 minutes to criticizing reporters and revisiting complaints that he chooses to live in Greenbrier County rather than at the seat of state government as the West Virginia constitution specifies.
The governor said he saves the state money by not requiring housekeeping to make his bed, clean his laundry or prepare meals. All of this was spelled out on whiteboards wheeled out for the occasion.
As Justice finally began talking about PEIA, he promised long-term results on stabilizing PEIA costs.
“We can win this battle on PEIA to where we solve another issue,” the governor said. “And you know why we’re solving that issue? Nobody will be buying me toothpaste or cleaning my whatever, and nobody will be driving me around, either.”
West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said educators feared their pay raises would be eaten up by rising PEIA premiums and co-pays.
Some state employees would have experienced a 25-percent increase in their insurance costs, Lee said.
“We wanted to make sure they received the entire raise, not have part of it go back into insurance premiums,” Lee said.
PEIA director Ted Cheatham described the change as revenue-neutral because of the freeze already in effect. He referenced $29 million that was allocated for the freeze for the coming fiscal year.
“It may cost us a little money because I believe some people may not get as large a raise and may actually drop a tier. But I don’t think that’s significant at all,” Cheatham said. “It’s very doable, what the governor is trying to accomplish.”
Senate President Mitch Carmichael, who was in the audience at the news conference, praised the change in tiers but disputed the revenue-neutral characterization.
“This is another benefit for the teachers and the public employees of West Virginia. Under no circumstances now will anyone pay an increased premium for their health insurance or their prescription benefit in West Virginia, public employees or teachers,” said Carmichael, R-Jackson.
“It does cost money. It’s about a $7 million to
$8 million investment because there were roughly 14,000 employees who were going to go into another tier. That tier increase would have been about $50 a month for additional health care premiums, but your raise is over $200 a month.”
