Letter to the editor: Consider how health care bill will affect state workers

Talk about it

One of the largest employers in the State of North Dakota is the state government itself. State employees currently enjoy one of the best health insurance policies in the nation. During the health care debate these types of plans were called Cadillac plans. The federal plan passed by the U.S. House and signed into law Tuesday will have a large impact on the insurance plan the State of North Dakota provides its employees.

Will you please contact the appropriate state agency to determine just what this negative effect will be, how much will it cost each individual, how much will it cost the state? What will the financial impact be for each state employee? What will happen to the current plan? How much more money will the state have to pay to maintain the same level of service? Example: All state employees receive the same insurance benefits from the same plan. The president of North Dakota State University doesn’t get any more insurance coverage from the state than a physical services employee sweeping the floors in Minard hall. The state will cover the cost of the insurance to the tune of about $10,000 annually. Each employee will be taxed on the $10,000 benefit. They will each pay taxes on this $10,000 according to their own tax bracket.

Let’s see some analysis of how the federal provisions will impact state employees in North Dakota. Will this additional tax reduce current take-home pay for North Dakota state employees? Since we are coming into a new lgislative assembly in January 2011, I hope that news media throughout the state will start asking senators and representatives how they are going to preserve the wonderful insurance benefits to state employees without reducing the benefit or putting employees into a position where the taxes will force them into a net loss of salary.

Steve Collins

Valley City, N.D.

Tags: health insurance, health care, opinion, letters, bill