Kansans Weigh In on Medical Coverage

Residents of Kansas who receive health insurance generally pay more for premiums than in border states, and employees in the Jayhawk State typically pay much less out of pocket for their health coverage, following the release of a legislative post audit report April 24.

The Topeka Capital Journal reports that Kansans’ premiums were also more than average compared with the findings of surveys of state employee health benefit plans studied by national firms. According to the audit’s findings, the 1998-2000 surveys of state employee health benefit plans done by The Segal Company indicated that Kansas’ rates were more than the five neighboring states’ rates in 1998 and 1999, but had fallen to third highest in 2000 when the reported states had major increases in their rates.

Following several national surveys, Kansas legislators expressed concerns about the price of the state’s health insurance program. There were also worries about whether Kansas has hired professionals with the proper experience to direct the state’s health insurance program. Kansas sports 45,000 participants in its health insurance plan, which serves some 90,000 people, including dependents.

Post audit report information studied Kansas premiums with the four surrounding states and Iowa, Sedgwick and Shawnee counties, and Wichita and Topeka public schools. It showed that monthly premiums in Kansas for conventional plans cost $260 for employee-only coverage and $727 for family coverage.

Those findings compare with averages of $245 and $610 a month for the comparison groups.

Total funding of Kansas’ plan is $198.3 million, of which 52.3 percent is paid by the state, 41.4 percent is covered by plan participants, and 6.3 percent is reserve money.

In a conventional health-care plan, an employee’s out-of-pocket costs may include a deductible, co-insurance and co-payments.

Topics Kansas