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Kansas Employee Health Insurance Will Cost More in 2017

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Health insurance costs for state employees in Kansas will be rising again next year.

The increases vary depending on the plan, but rate hikes range from around 9 to 30 percent, with additional increases for dental and vision coverage.

Rebecca Proctor is with the Kansas Organization of State Employees. She says there are some state workers making around $12 to $14 an hour, so the rising costs really hit their bottom line.


“When you look at, for instance, an increase of $40 a pay period, that’s a lot of money. That’s $80 a month that could pay an electric bill, that could pay school fees, that could buy groceries,” says Proctor.

Proctor says this will be the second year in a row of sizeable cost increases when state workers haven’t had an across-the-board pay increase for more than five years.

A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says health care costs are rising and state officials had to adjust the employee contribution amounts.
 

Stephen Koranda is KPR's Statehouse reporter.