Late last week Governor Beshear vetoed 19 items in the budget (HB 1) passed during the recently completed Special Session. One of the items vetoed by the governor was the controversial state insurance plan (see description below) for public employees included in the budget by the General Assembly.
Governor Beshear did not alter the amount of money the legislature expects to save ($94M) over next 2 years. In his veto statement, the governor said the Personnel Cabinet in partnership with the many stakeholders will develop a health insurance plan that lives within the funding appropriated.
I do not anticipate detailed information on the Kentucky Employee Health Insurance Plan (KEHP) for plan year 2011 to be released until late August or early September at the earliest.
On another note, I found it quite interesting in the Sunday, June 6, 2010 issue of The Courier Journal, that Bob Sexton, executive director, of the Prichard Committee on Academic Excellence was quoted as praising lawmakers for the provision in HB 1 that would curb growth in the cost of public employee health care.
Regards,
Bob Wagoner
KRTA
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Attention Kentucky Retired Teachers Association Members!
Job opportunities are being offered for the upcoming 2010 World Equestrian Games!
Tipton Staffing, in partnership with the Patina Group and Gameday Transportation, are seeking qualified associates to work at the World Equestrian Games from September 10, 2010 through October 12th 2010. We will have part time and full time opportunities available.
These are paid positions that will include; line attendants, butlers, bartenders, prep cooks, kitchen assistants, dishwashers and suite managers for The Patina Group. We will also staff parking attendants, cashiers, and customer service agents for Gameday Transportation.
Tipton Staffing, a division of The Patty Tipton Company, will be staffing up to 1500 associates per day. These job opportunities will be located at the Kentucky Horse Park and at designated parking stations in and around Lexington.
What a great opportunity to be a part of an historical event that has never before been held in the United States! Second to only the US Olympics, The World Equestrian Games is the largest sporting event in the world. We would love for KRTA to be a part of it with Tipton Staffing!
Please reach out to me directly at 859-389-6706 to learn more about this historical event!
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Candy
Candy Peck
Regional Vice President
Tipton Stafffing
1218 South Broadway
Suite 112
Lexington, KY 40504
Office: 859-389-6706
Mobile: 859-608-8970
Fax: 859-389-6782
Email: tiptonstaffing@yahoo.com
Website: thepattytiptoncompany.com
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KRTA 2010 GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SPECIAL SESSION UPDATE - FINAL
Jun 2, 2010
A collective sigh of relief can be heard all around the Commonwealth this week. Why? The General Assembly was able to accomplish in six days what it could not do in sixty days: pass a budget (HB 1). Although the budget contains plenty of pain to be shared by everyone, the political sages remind us that it is far better to have a budget – even a bad one – than not to have one.
It appears the funds to provide the debt service on the bonds to repay KTRS the approximately $562M that was borrowed from the pension fund over the past several years survived in HB 1 (the budget bill). As you know, HB 531, which passed the regular 2010 General Assembly, provides the framework for these bonds to be sold.
HB 1 (the budget bill) contains the following changes the General Assembly decided to make to the state employee insurance program (KEHP). As you know, all retired teachers under 65 are enrolled in KEHP by KTRS
The Health Insurance new “Base Plan” Facts are:
* The "Base Plan" is free for all individual state and local school employees.
* According to General Assembly Leadership the "Base Plan" has improved benefits and lower out of pocket costs than the current Standard Plan.
* Members of the General Assembly have the same health coverage plan and pay the same premiums as all other state and school employees.
* The employer will provide $590 per month if the employee desires to buy up to another plan developed by the Personnel Cabinet.
* The state provides subsidies of $152 for Parent Plus, $304 for Couples and $365 for Family Coverage tiers. These subsidies will continue to be provided in addition to the $590 per month employer contribution.
What we know. The new “Base Plan” features higher deductibles, member co-insurance percentages instead of co-payments and higher out-of-pocket maximums than the Commonwealth Optimum PPO, the current popular choice of KEHP participants.
The new “Base Plan” appears to replace co-pays with deductibles of $500 for singles and $1500 for families. This is followed by a 20% coinsurance payment for the remainder of expenses until maximum out of pocket amounts (singles $2,500, families $4,000) are reached. Prescription benefits are 20% coinsurance with minimum and maximum amounts.
Work continued to the very end by representatives of our association and others until the end of the special session trying to convince leadership of the General Assembly not to make these changes. Unfortunately, to no avail.
At this time, there is no definitive information on whether the other three existing KEHP plans will be offered in plan year 2011 or what the out of pocket insurance premium costs might be for these plans. Details may not be available until the open enrollment period in September.
Due to current security measures, the most efficient way to contact our federal legislators about these issues is by fax. The fax numbers for Kentucky’s federal legislators are as follows: Jim Bunning (202-228-1373); Ben Chandler (202-225-2122); Geoff Davis (202-225-0003); Brett Guthrie (202-225-3501); Mitch McConnell (202-224-2499); John Yarmuth (202-225-5401); Hal Rogers (202-225-0940) and Ed Whitfield (202-225-3547).
