Morrisey says he’ll call special session for PEIA

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he plans to call a special legislative session to address the rising costs of state employee health insurance coverage. 

Speaking during a press conference Wednesday, Morrisey said he’d bring lawmakers back to Charleston to tackle issues including the Public Employees Insurance Agency. 

“That’s important. I thought that would be best for a special session, to be honest,” Morrisey said. “Because you can bring everyone. You can focus it. It’s a complicated issue. We want to get it right. 

“That was kicked down the road for many, many years,” the governor said. “I don’t intend to kick it down the road. We have to bring everyone together, all the stakeholders: listen, learn and then you’ll be seeing some activity.”

Morrisey’s news conference, which he held in Wheeling, marked his first 100 days in office. 

More than 200,000 state employees and thousands of local government workers rely on PEIA for their health insurance. 

Beginning in July, PEIA premiums are increasing by 14% for state employees and by 16% for local government employees. Out-of-pocket and copay costs are also increasing. The agency will also raise premiums by 12% for retirees.

PEIA leaders have said that the rising cost of health care, particularly inflation for prescription GLP-1 drugs that treat obesity and diabetes, are a major driver of the rate increases.

Following the regular session, union leaders reiterated calls that the program be stabilized.

“It’s a good benefit. We need to keep it at a good benefit,” West Virginia ALF-CIO President Josh Sword told West Virginia Watch. “We also know that public sector workers generally make less than those in the private sector, and one of the reasons that it’s attractive, therefore, to work in the public sector is because you’ve generally had access to PEIA, which is a good health care benefit for the employee and their family. 

“You take that away, or you destroy a pretty good benefit program so that it is not what it used to be, then you’ve lost that incentive to attract and retain qualified individuals in the public sector,” he said. 

This year’s state budget included $64 million more in spending for PEIA than last year’s budget. The appropriation is in line with the funding Morrisey level requested for the agency, according to a spokeswoman for the Senate. 

Senate president Randy Smith and House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw were not available for comment on Thursday. Senate communications director Jacque Bland said Smith would not be surprised by the governor’s remarks indicating a special session, which Morrisey has talked about before. 

Ann Ali, communications director and deputy chief of staff for the House of Delegates, said Hanshaw’s reaction would likely depend on what specific proposals the governor has. Morrisey did not outline any specific ideas for PEIA during his press conference Wednesday.  

“Extraordinary sessions for various reasons have become commonplace, but Speaker Hanshaw’s response when asked for potential reaction or feedback to any general proposal from the previous governor was usually that the House would have to see the bill(s) for how that proposal would be structured,” Ali said. 

House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said lawmakers need to go beyond allocating money to PEIA and consider structural changes. He said finding solutions should involve bringing various stakeholders together.

“We need to look at serious, what I would call long-term structural enhancements to the program to make sure that the promise that we made state workers many, many moons ago isn’t eroded, and we follow through on that,” Hornbuckle said. “That’s very important to me, from a state perspective.”

He added that he would have preferred that time during the regular session were dedicated to PEIA and not to vaccine exemption bills and legislation ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“The priorities of the supermajority Republicans are not in line with everyday West Virginians,” he said.