Kan. Employees Getting Break on Health Premiums

A new health insurance contract will reduce premiums for thousands of state employees, a savings state officials attribute to better plan management and workers’ more efficient use of insurance.

All told, 90,000 government workers and their dependents are covered by the contract, according to Associated Press.

Gavin Young, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Administration, said he believed most state workers would see a decrease in rates. He said premiums for the individual-coverage plan would likely drop about $7 monthly, while family premiums would decrease about $69 a month. The new rates take effect Jan. 1.

Kansas is also starting a pilot program called Healthy KIDS, which will pay 90 percent of health-care premiums for children of low-income employees and is expected to cover more than 2,000 children.