State retirees to see health increases

46,000 state employees are about to see their health care costs go up. The Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan board of trustees voted last Thursday to deal with increasing costs by offering state workers and retirees two options. The first option includes monthly premium increases of 2% to 4% for active workers, and up to 30% increases for retirees. It also requires higher co-pays for doctor visits and hospital stays. The second option keeps co-pays at their present level, but premiums jump much higher. Meyer says retirees’ increases are bigger because they were paying less to start out with. And he notes taxpayers are paying millions more into the plan this year to keep increases to a minimum.