Florida Facing $300M Fine Over Health Insurance for Part-Time Employees

January 18, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

It turns out that the state of Florida has yet another major decision to make in the next few months when it comes to the federal healthcare overhaul.

The state may be forced to make sweeping changes to its health insurance program for state workers if it wants to avoid paying substantial penalties required under the law pushed by President Barack Obama.

Officials who run the health insurance program told legislators that Florida could be on the hook for a $300 million a year penalty unless it suddenly agrees to start covering part-time employees who work at least 30 hours a week.

Florida currently doesn’t offer health care benefits to thousands of part-time employees because it’s against state law. But under the federal health care overhaul, the state in January 2014 must start covering those part-timers or risk the fine.

Barbara Crosier, director of the Division of State Group Insurance, said the latest estimates show that there are 2,200 part-timers who work at least 30 hours in state agencies and another 4,700 part-time employees working at the state’s public universities.

The cost to cover those part-time employees would be $23.5 million in the next year with the cost rising to nearly $49 million by 2015. But it’s an expense that would come at the same time that the state health insurance program is projected to be in the red. The latest estimates project the program could have a deficit of more than $260 million two years from now.

Florida overall spends $1.9 billion a year on health insurance for its employees, their families and retirees. Most of that money comes from taxpayers and not from premiums or doctor visit co-payments.

Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and chairman of a House panel reviewing the federal health care overhaul, said lawmakers could pay for the part-time workers by raising premiums or changing benefits offered to full-time state workers. That’s been a contentious issue in recent years especially since state legislators and even Gov. Rick Scott currently pay relatively low premiums for health coverage.

But Corcoran said other alternatives could be to pare back the number of people who work at least 30 hours a week or create a stand-alone health insurance plan that offers different benefits from those offered to full-time state employees.

Lawmakers are expected during the 2013 session to deal with several items dealing with the federal care overhaul

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Employer Costs for Employees Lowest in South, Highest in Northeast

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle3 Comments

Total employer costs for employees in private industry ranges from $26.14 per hour in the South to $32.98 in the Northeast.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same costs are $28.06 in the Midwest and $30.01 in the West.

Overall, compensation costs among private industry employers in the United States averaged $28.80 per hour worked in June 2012. Wages and salaries, at $20.27 per hour, accounted for 70.4 percent of these costs, while benefits, at $8.52, made up the remaining 29.6 percent.

The costs ranged within each region, with total compensation costs of $24.44 in the East South Central division to $33.47 in New England.

BLS used compensation data from June 2012. The agency measures the average cost to employers for wages, salaries and benefits per employee hour worked. Benefits include health, life and disability insurance; workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, Social Security and Medicare; and paid leave including vacation, holiday and sick days.

The data cover private industry only and exclude self-employed and farm and private household workers. The costs were collected from a sample of 47,400 occupations from about 9,500 establishments in private industry.

Regional Costs

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