FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 02, 2019
October 02, 2019
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
[email protected]
Insurance Premiums to Rise 5.6% Next Year for Federal Workers, Retirees
Categories:
Retirees
Part-time TSA employees to pay higher premiums under agency rule change
WASHINGTON – The administration continues to price federal employees and their families out of health insurance coverage, announcing today that it is shifting yet more of the cost of its expensive health insurance program onto its workforce. While agencies will pay just 3.2% more on average toward their share of premiums, federal workers will pay a whopping 5.6% more.
To compound the pain, the administration will begin reducing its share of health insurance premiums for newly hired Transportation Security Officers whose schedules are limited to 32 hours a week.
“The Trump administration has failed to do its job of providing affordable health insurance to its workforce. Shifting more health-care costs onto federal workers and retirees will force growing numbers to choose between keeping their health insurance or paying for rent and other costs of daily living,” American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said.
Premiums overall will rise 4.0% on average next year.
In addition, a policy change issued Sept. 20 by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will increase premiums for Transportation Security Officers hired part-time on or after Oct. 1. Previously TSA paid the same share of premiums for full-time and part-time officers, which eased the financial burden on these already inadequately paid workers. Now part-time officers, who account for roughly 20% of TSA’s screener workforce, will pay a greater percentage of the premiums – and their share will rise depending upon how many hours they are able to work. TSA defines part-time employment as 32 hours or fewer per week.
“Earlier this year, TSA employees demonstrated their loyalty to this country by showing up for work unpaid for 35 consecutive days during the longest ever government shutdown – keeping the flying public safe while their own financial security was in jeopardy,” Cox said. “And this is how this administration repays them – by cutting such a critical component of their meager compensation.”
TSA was able to reduce its share of health insurance premiums by enforcing the very management flexibilities Congress has provided the agency.
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