CHARLESTON, W.V. (AP) - The health care provider for West Virginia public employees is cutting some major costs.
The finance board for the Public Employees Insurance Agency approved a new plan Tuesday.
Changes from the current plan include several new or increased co-payments. The new plan also hikes retiree premiums 9 percent. It ends coverage for acupuncture treatments. It also sets standards for massage therapists but keeps that coverage.
The board also voted to cut $5 billion from a looming funding shortfall from retiree health expenses.
It's capping the $343 premiums subsidy for retirees. That individual subsidy will grow by 3 percent a year to help with medical inflation.
The funding shortfall involves post-employment benefits, or OPEB. Officials say the freeze will erase an estimated $10 billion OPEB unfunded liability by half.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
