Union leaders ask Legislature to stabilize PEIA, include them in planning

Their requests were clear: Not only do they want the state Legislature to stabilize PEIA benefits for public workers, but they also want to be part of the conversation moving forward.

“In 2018-2019, the (PEIA) Task Force got together and made some recommendations, and none of the recommendations ever saw the light of day over in the Legislature,� said Dale Lee, president of WVEA. “I’m calling upon everyone to get us back to the table. … There are things that we can do to help stabilize this plan, but the important part is we have to be at the table.�

In December, the Finance Board of West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency approved increases to premiums, deductibles, the spousal surcharge and co-pays. This was despite public backlash during a hearing in November.

PEIA Director Brian Cunningham, who stepped down from his position last month, said while he didn’t want to raise premiums, health care costs continue to increase, and PEIA needs to raise premiums to generate enough revenue.

On Feb. 19, six Republican delegates introduced House Bill 2623 seeking to repeal PEIA and establish private insurance for public workers. On Feb. 20, the state Democratic Party released a letter condemning the bill, saying it would “only drive more skilled professionals out of West Virginia.�

“If privatization is simply handing PEIA over to a for-profit conglomerate organization that’s going to make a profit on it, it’s going to be bad for PEIA plan participants. It’s that simple,� said Joshua Sword, president of the West Virginia AFL-CIO.

Stacey Strawderman, a retired AFT-WV member who taught in Marion County for 25 years, said she’s been going to PEIA hearings since 2003, pleading with the Legislature and hearing false promises. Now that she’s retired, she will receive no raise to compensate for the premium increases. These changes will essentially mean a pay cut for her.

“I have a daughter and a son-in-law that have had teachers, and they both thought about leaving the state because of the benefits and the pay,� Strawderman said.

West Virginia ranks 51st in teacher pay in the nation, with an average salary of $52,870, according to data from 2022-23 by the National Education Association.

Kristie Skidmore, president of AFT-WV, told attendees AFT-WV and WVEA launched a joint campaign in October with petitions from county school boards across the state to stabilize PEIA. Now, she said, they’ve received more than 7,000 employee signatures and support from all 55 county boards of education.

Lee said some suggestions the PEIA Task Force brought to the table in 2018 and 2019 were for the state to put additional money into the agency to keep the cost down. This would allow for a plan in which the state would pay no less than 80% and employees would pay no more than 20%.

“They’ve kicked the can down the road for years,� said Joe White, executive director of West Virginia School Service Personnel Association. “I don’t know how many years we’ve been crying foul for this and kicked the can down the road and kicked the can down the road.�

White used a real-life example of an employee in Harrison County he represents with 28 years of experience who makes between $33,101 and $44,100 a year.

In Fiscal Year 2023, White said, that employee’s cost for PEIA coverage was $2,876. In FY 2025, the cost of coverage for the same employee is $5,362, and the projected cost for FY 2026 is $8,152. The costs, he said, do not include increases in co-pays, prescriptions costs and deductibles.

“Some of our employees will not see a payday with these increases,� White said.

White noted that in 2024 an estimated 211,000 public employees accessed PEIA benefits.

Angie Turkelson, a special education teacher at Hurricane High School in Putnam County, is in her 27th year of teaching and said she is “exhausted� with the state Legislature.

“I stay in West Virginia because I love the state, but I had better benefits and better pay teaching out of state,� she said.