State employees in South Dakota saw some big changes to their health insurance plans on July first. Premium costs went up as did deductibles. Also the state contracted with Sanford Health to provide coverage to major medical needs. Avera Health later said they would match those benefits.

Representative Bernie Hunhoff of Yankton says he has been hearing from a number of state workers…

 

The state has run insurance deficits in the neighborhood of twenty million dollars each of the past two years.

Hunhoff says the legislature may have to be involved in insurance fixes every year…

 

Hunhoff says there may be more serious discussions about wellness plans for state workers…

 

A wellness plan was discussed last year, but rejected by legislators because of its eight million dollar cost.