The Public Employees Insurance Agency Board continues its hearings Monday evening regarding the hefty premium increases and additional out of pocket costs for next fiscal year.

The board held hearings last week, and have three more slated for this week, with a virtual hearing on Monday, and in-person hearings in both Morgantown and Charleston. This stemming from PEIA’s increases due to medical and drug expenses outpacing available money.

PEIA’s new plan has proposed increases of 14% for the state fund or 16% in plans for local governments for those under the insurance agency, as well as increases in deductibles of 40%.

President of the West Virginia Education Association Dale Lee says the comments he heard at last Tuesday’s hearing in Martinsburg showed that customers will need to double what they used to pay for a number of healthcare options.”

Out of pocket costs, the drug co-pays are doubling, the emergency room visits doubling,” Lee said on WEPM Radio in Martinsburg. “It’s about $74.6 million in benefit reductions and benefit changes that are born solely on the employee, it’s not the states providing additional money and when you have the benefit changes, that’s on the employee solely.”

Lee says raises that have come over the last five years haven’t given public employees any additional leverage.

“The legislature will say, ‘well, we’ve given you raises four of the last five years to offset these premium increases.’ They have, but offsetting premium increase and increasing your buying power are two different things,” Lee said. “The raises haven’t increased your buying power at all. All the raises have done is to take care of theses changes, but your buying power continues to reduce.”

Lee also says West Virginia falls right near the bottom of the nation when it comes to pay, and he wouldn’t be surprised if a fall to 51st in the nation happens.

“We are 50th in the nation in pay, and I expect us to drop to probably 51st in the nation in pay because you also count (Washington) D.C. in those rankings,” Lee said.

Also as part of PEIA’s proposal, retirees in West Virginia under the agency would face a 12% premium increase. Lee says the increase does not get balanced out by any cost of living adjustments.

“It proposes a 12 percent increase in premiums for non-Medicare retirees and then the benefit changes for all retirees who can least afford it. They haven’t had a cost of living adjustment in forever,” Lee said. “The legislature will tell them, ‘well, when we get the retirement plan paid off, that’s when we’ll look at COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment).’ Well, that retirement plan doesn’t get paid in full until 2034.”

WVEA Organizational Development Specialist Lisa Henry says she is hearing stories of areas in the state struggling to retain their teachers due to pay and insurance frustrations.

“I think one (story) that stood out was from the Jefferson County Education Association Angelia Wyatt. She’s been a teacher in Jefferson County for 15 years, and in that time, they’ve only celebrated one retirement,” Henry said. “Of course, many people have left her school, but only one stayed long enough to retire. The others all left the profession or went to other states.”

Lee says the legislature still has a chance to make some much-needed adjustments.

“The plan doesn’t actually take effect until July of 2025. The board will go back in December and approve a plan based on these public hearings, but that’s based on the money that have now,” Lee said. “The legislature has the opportunity when they go back in February, and it’s February this year because it’s a governor-election year, they have the opportunity to go in and make adjustments to the plan, make adjustments to the money that’s going into the plan, so there is an opportunity to do that and I’m pleading with the legislature, let’s really take a look at this.”

The board’s in-person hearings will be on Tuesday at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown and on Thursday at the State Culture Center in Charleston. All meetings will begin at 6 p.m.