TRIADELPHIA — West Virginia Education Association President Dale Lee said his union members “know they have to have some skin in the game” and absorb some of the rising cost of health insurance premiums.

“But we’re being skinned alive,” he said. “It’s plain wrong.”

The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency board convened for a public hearing Thursday night at the Highlands Event Center in Triadelphia with the purpose of unveiling proposed increases to PEIA members.

PEIA Director Brian Cunningham spelled them out.

Proposed increases will hike premiums paid into the state fund by 14%, and into the local fund by 16%. The PEIA’s five-year-plan had projected increases to be just 10.7% and 11%, respectively, he noted.

The average out-of-pocket cost per client also will jump by 40%, Cunningham continued. The average deductible then would be a projected $1,610.

Both inpatient and outpatient copays would increase from $100 to $250, and emergency room copays from $100 to $200. Prescription copays, meanwhile, would double under the plan to $20 for generic prescription, and $50 for non-generic meds.

In total, the increases are projected to generate $112.9 million next year.

Cunningham went on to explain what is driving the need to increase PEIA costs. To start, the cost of prescription drugs is increasing at a high rate.

As an example, he cited the increased use of GLP-1 drugs, a class of medications used to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. Among these are Ozempic and Wegovy.

These drugs were responsible for 19.9% — or about $52.5 million — of the total drug cost incurred by PEIA last year.

Overall, PEIA saw an increase paid out for prescriptions of $23.54 million, and the increase in the cost for GLP-1 drugs accounted for $10.25 million — or 43.6% — of the total net increase.

West Virginia Senate Bill 268 passed in 2023 also mandated higher costs for adding a spouse to the plan. As a result, the current spousal surcharge will jump from $147 to $350.

“I’m angry and frustrated, just like you are,” Lee said. “But my frustration is not with the PEIA board. They have the playing cards that were given them. Your anger should be with the Legislature and the governor.”

Lee suggested public employees “sparked the world with a little action we took” when public school teachers went on strike in 2018, and pay raises for teachers and other state workers resulted.

A PEIA task force established following the strike also created a plan to deal with rising healthcare costs, but that suggested legislation “has never seen light of day” despite current Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, approving of it, according to Lee.

“My personal thought is it is retaliation for what we did in 2018,” he said.

Lee pointed out Delegates Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, and Jeff Stephens, R-Marshall, who were sitting in the crowd.

“I appreciate you for coming out,” Lee said. “But my question is, where is everyone else?”

He called the situation “unacceptable, because it can be changed.” He encouraged those present to call their delegates and state senators with their concerns.