COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Public employees in South Carolina will pay 4.5 percent more for their health insurance next year, after the state Budget and Control Board voted Tuesday to raise premiums for the state health plan.

The plan covers nearly 410,000 public employees and their families and more than 100,000 state retirees and their families. Local teachers are also part of the plan, along with city and county workers who choose to be part of it.

Sam Griswold, past president of the State Retirees Association, says there was no reason for the increase. "If you had zero increase in the employee contribution, you would have still more than 45 days of reserves in the program, which is what is required by law and what, in the past, has been only what has been required by the Budget and Control Board. We have never increased rates unnecessarily. This is the first time. It's unprecedented in state government."

But board members said the move was needed to make sure the system is sound and has the money required to meet employees' health care needs. The state, meaning all taxpayers, will also increase its share of the health insurance premiums by 4.5 percent.

When asked what she would say to employees and retirees upset about the increase, Gov. Nikki Haley said, "We said at the beginning of this year when I took office that this year was going to hurt. And I think we've seen that. What we've tried to do is limit the amount of pain that we've had to feel."

Filed Under : Employee Benefits, Health Care