OKLAHOMA CITY — The Office of Management and Enterprise Services approved premium rates for health, dental, life, disability and vision insurance products to be offered to state, education and many local government employees, retirees and dependents for 2020.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Office of Management and Enterprise Services approved premium rates for health, dental, life, disability and vision insurance products to be offered to state, education and many local government employees, retirees and dependents for 2020.
The rates were recommended by the Oklahoma Employees Insurance and Benefits Board and approved by OMES Director John Budd.
The rate presented at the recent board meeting included a $615.90 premium, 3.5% increase, for HealthChoice High Option plan offered to current employees and pre-Medicare retirees, and a $395.30 premium, a 5.3% increase, for the HealthChoice High Option Medicare supplement plan.
These increases are below initial projections and the national average of similar health care insurance rate hikes, according to the board’s actuary, Aon Hewitt Consulting.
HealthChoice is the state’s self-funded insurance plan administered by OMES. Other 2020 HealthChoice rates include $41.72 for the HealthChoice Dental Plan, $4.20 for HealthChoice Basic Life Insurance and $10.36 for the HealthChoice Disability Plan.
“The increase of 3.5% for the HealthChoice High Option Plan announced today [Thursday, Aug. 8] for the plan year 2020 is consistent with the plan’s average annual increase over the past 10 years and is considerably lower than the national average of 6% that most other plans are looking at for next year,” said OMES Employees Group Insurance Division Administrator Frank Wilson.
“While we recognize the significant impact that healthcare costs have on state and education budgets, the monthly rates for the self-funded HealthChoice plans are considerably lower than most other employer plans with similar coverage levels.”
For the plan year, 2020 existing HMOs plans are Community- Care, GlobalHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
For primary current employee members, CommunityCare will offer a premium of $970.34, an 8.5% increase; GlobalHealth will offer a premium of $710.74, a 14.1% increase; and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma will offer a premium of $559.90, a 1.8% increase.
For Medicare eligible members, CommunityCare will offer a premium of $228.70, an 11.7% decrease; GlobalHealth will offer a premium of $216.00, a 12.5% increase; Blue CrossBlue Shield of Oklahoma will offer a Medicare supplement premium of $364.02, a 5.2%decrease, along with a new Medicare Advantage plan with a premium of $282.62; and Humana will offer a new plan with a premium of $224.72.