Federal Employees To Pay More For Health Insurance in 2009

The Office of Personnel Management reports that federal employees can expect to pay an average of 8% more for their health insurance coverage in 2009 than they did in 2008. According to the Washington Post, previous annual increases have been less than 3%, so this new increase will hit federal workers hard.

The 8% increase is an average across all plans. Some plans will have higher premium increases, while others will have lower increases. Federal employees with Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, for example, will be among the hardest hit, as their plan premiums are expected to increase by 13%.

The rising cost of health services is blamed for the dramatic increase in premiums. Also, officials noted that estimates for health costs in previous years were too low, and thus the premium increases were too low to compensate. This year's premium increases are believed to be the lowest possible increases that will allow the benefits program to continue into the future.