Some legislators pay toward health insurance, some don't
5:47 PM Tue, Jun 24, 2008 | Permalink
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Despite the state Senate’s refusal to consider a bill requiring state lawmakers to pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums, the number doing so voluntarily grew during the closing days of the General Assembly. House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick, and House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, were among those who recently volunteered to pay 10 percent of the premiums for their health, dental and vision-care package. The full array of medical, dental and vision benefits -- which now costs the state $5,810 for an individual and $16,233 for a family -- is increasing on July 1 to $6,379 for individuals and $17,826 for family coverage. The package includes the same UnitedHealthcare, Delta Dental and VSO (Vision Service Plan) benefits provided full-time state employees. So the way it stands: some legislators pay, some don’t. Full-time state employees now pay between 8 percent and 15 percent of the premiums for their health coverage – or a portion of their salaries. These employees now are being asked to approve new contract terms that will cost some of them up to 25 percent of the premiums. At this point, 33 of the 57 state representatives and 9 of the 31 state senators receiving state-provided health insurance are contributing 10 percent. Lawmakers who forgo the benefit get “waiver payments’’ of $2,002. A handful have pledged to return a portion of those waiver payments when they get them in December. Who among the state’s $13, 5408-a-year, part-time legislators is still accepting 100 percent state-paid health packages? According to the Joint Committee on Legislative Services, the list includes: Reps. Joseph Almeida, D-Providence; Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence; Elizabeth Dennigan, D-East Providence; John DeSimone, D-Providence; Grace Diaz, D-Providence; Robert Flaherty, D-Warwick; Arthur Handy, D-Cranston; Donald Lally, D-Narragansett; Eileen Naughton, D-Warwick; Peter Palumbo, D-Cranston; Peter Petrarca, D-Lincoln; Henry Rose, D-East Providence; William San Bento, D-Pawtucket; Gregory Schadone, D-North Providence; Joseph Scott, D-Exeter; Agostinho Silva, D-Central Falls; Richard Singleton, D-Cumberland; Thomas Slater, D-Providence; Anastasia Williams, D-Providence, and Timothy Williamson, D-West Warwick, have family coverage. Reps. Steven Costantino, D-Providence; Brian Patrick Kennedy, D-Hopkinton; Peter Lewiss, D-Westerly, and David Segal, D-Providence, who have individual plans. Sens. Stephen Alves, D-West warwick; Leo Blais, R-Coventry; Frank Ciccone, D-Providence; Daniel DaPonte, D-East Providence; James Doyle, D-Pawtucket; Hanna Gallo, D-Cranston; Daniel Issa, D-Central Falls; Beatrice Lanzi, D-Cranston; John McBurney, D-Pawtucket; Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick; Joshua Miller, D-Providence; Joseph Montalbano, D-North Providence; Paul Moura, D-East Providence; Juan Pichardo, D-Providence; Leonidas Raptakis, D-Coventry; John Revens, D-Warwick; Susan Sosnowski, D-South Kingstown and Wiliam Walaska, D-Warwick, have family coverage. Sens. Daniel Connors, D-Cumberland; Charles Levesque, D-Portsmouth; Rhoda Perry, D-Providence and Dominick Ruggerio, D-Providence, have individual plans. -- Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau In May, the House passed legislation that would have eliminated the waiver payments and required every lawmaker who accepts the insurance to pay 10 percent of the premiums. House Republicans chided their colleagues for voting for a bill that they knew was “NGN’’ – as in “not going nowhere" in the Senate. And that is what happened, with Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, saying the Senate leadership saw no need for the bill. She said lawmakers could show more leadership by making the 10 percent payments voluntarily, as she does. During the House budget debate, Republicans tried to force the issue by appending the 10 percent requirement to the big money bill. ut the House voted it down at the urging of its own leadership, with House Majority Whip Peter Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket, later explaining the reason. Though no one said it outright, Kilmartin said he was of “the opinion’’ the Senate leadership considered the legislative cost-sharing a budget “deal-breaker.’’ 
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Wow, that is a lot of taxpayer's money going to pay for the politician's healthcare. Amazing. Sounds like a lot of politician's time is spent debating how much money they will allow themselves for this and other expenses. Hmmmm....
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