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State employees will receive one-month break
from health insurance premiums

Idaho employees covered by state’s Blue Cross health insurance plans will receive a break from automatic payroll premium deductions this month because of a compensation plan passed by the Idaho Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year.

That plan directed the Department of Administration to pay one month of group
health insurance premiums. The Office of Group Insurance will pay both the normal state contribution and all employee/retiree paid premiums for December coverage for those enrolled in the plans.

The premium will be paid from reserve accounts that had been contractually obligated to the state's former insurer, and were released following the final settlement of the contract.

December premiums are normally withheld from paychecks the last pay date in November (in this case Nov. 17) for those employees on biweekly payroll, and from the December 1 paycheck for those on a monthly payroll system.

Payroll centers will stop all December medical and dental premiums from being withheld on the appropriate pay dates.

December medical plan premiums for retirees who have their payment withdrawn from their retirement benefit or from sick leave funds, would normally be withheld on Dec. 1.

PERSI will stop all of those deductions from being withheld or drawn from the retiree’s sick leave funds.

Those retirees being billed directly by Blue Cross of Idaho will not receive a billing for the December premium, which would normally be sent to them in November.

Retirees who have their premiums directly withheld from bank accounts will receive a refund check from Blue Cross of Idaho in the amount of the premium withheld, thus eliminating the need to stop and restart the automatic bank draft process.