The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced last week that federal workers’ health care premiums will increase by 3.8 percent next year. The increase will cost employees an additional $4.25 per pay period on average, or $110.50 in total new payments per year.
For federal employees entering the second year of a two-year pay freeze, the increasing cost of health insurance is putting a great deal of downward pressure on their families’ bottom lines. In the first year of the freeze, premiums rose by 7.3 percent; the year before that, premiums increased by a whopping 8.8 percent. The aggregate costs of these increases add up to hundreds of dollars per year, and thousands over the course of a career.
“For federal workers and their families who are already struggling in a bad economy, no increase is too small to matter,” said NFFE National President William R. Dougan. “At a time when every dollar counts, even a modest increase is tough to swallow.”
Though the trend appears to be pointing in the direction of lower premium increases, there is no telling how costs will fluctuate going forward. Click here for more information on this year’s FEHB premium increase.