Lawmaker Calls on Colleagues to Pay for Health Insurance
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
State lawmakers would be required to pay a portion of the cost of their health-care premiums under a new bill sponsored by Warwick Senator William Walaska.
The legisaltion, which has been proposed in previous General Assembly sessions, is before the Senate Committee on Finance. If passes, it would require legislators to pay 15-percent premiums on their health insurance.
“There are two things that are true about health insurance,” Walaska said. “One is that costs are rising and the other is that more and more employees are contributing to the cost of their coverage.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCurrently, legislators have the option of accepting health insurance coverage or refusing it, in which case they are eligible for a waiver payment, which they can accept or decline. Those who accept health insurance can receive it free or can make a contribution of their choosing to the premium amount.
The Walaska bill would require all who accept the coverage to pay a minimum of 15 percent and would prohibit any payment or state subsidy for waiving the health insurance benefits.
“For years, Rhode Island state employees have been contributing to their health care, which is fair," Walaska said. "But what I do not think is fair is that legislators, who are basically part-time state employees, get to choose to pay or not to pay."
Currently, 71 legislators accept the state health insurance. Of that number, 68 legislators pay a portion, of their choosing, toward the premiums, ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent. There are currently 42 legislators who waive the state health insurance.
“We all must do our part to contribute to the fiscal health of the state, and that includes legislators,” Walaska said. “In the grand scheme of things and the enormity of the state budget, the amount that is being proposed for legislator premium payments is small. But I introduced the bill not just as a cost-saving measure but as a matter of fairness to all other workers in our state – union and non-union state employees, municipal employees, private industry workers – for whom paying toward health insurance is a part of today’s work climate.”
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