Federal employees' health insurance premiums to rise

If things weren’t bad enough in Hampton Roads families’ budgets, those who are employed by Uncle Sam will be paying more for their health care.

Follow up:

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the average amount federal employees pay for their health care will rise 8.8% in. 2010.
The total average premium will increase 7.4% for plans in Health Benefits Program. That is $25.57 per pay period. The government will absorb $16.35 per pay period, increasing its contribution to employees' health care costs by 6.8%. Hence, that leaves federal employees with an average increase of $9.21 in their premiums, or 8.8%.

The hike is attributed to a number of factors including the rising cost of health care and the aging of the federal workforce. It has been stated that the employees cost of medical coverage keeps going up much more than the average increase in pay.

The OPM does not presently have new policies to announce but has begun a series of meetings with major insurance providers to see if there are changes it could make to drive down health insurance prices. OPM is looking at co-payments on preventative treatment, which can reduce the overall cost of health care.

And the family disposable income takes another hit. Just like a nightmare, it gets worse and worse.