Survey ranks Arkansas No. 1 in amount of teachers' pay going to insurance
Last updated Monday, September 22, 2008 8:20 PM CDT in News
By John Lyon
THE MORNING NEWS
LITTLE ROCK -- A recent survey of 36 states ranked Arkansas No. 1 in the percentage of teachers' pay taken up by out-of-pocket health insurance costs, the head of the state's largest teachers union told legislators Monday.
Arkansas Education Association President Dan Marzoni told the House and Senate education committees the association studied data from the 2005-06 school year and found that, on average, Arkansas teachers on single-coverage plans were responsible for $1,365 in insurance costs. That amounted to 3.24 percent of their salaries, a higher percentage than in any other state for which information was available.
"The point that we're trying to make here is that salary and health insurance go hand-in-hand. It is very definitely a part of salary when our out-of-pocket costs are huge," Marzoni said.
Arkansas teachers on family-coverage plans were responsible for an average $7,415 in insurance costs, or 17.62 percent of their pay, placing them at No. 4 among states surveyed, Marzoni said. Only teachers in Oklahoma, Arizona and South Dakota paid more for family coverage.
Arkansas teachers' pay averaged $42,093 in 2005-06, placing the state at No. 24 in a ranking of the 36 states surveyed. Arkansas ranked 29th when employees' share of insurance costs for single-coverage plans was subtracted and 32th when employees' costs for family-coverage plans were subtracted.
Last month, the education committees adopted a report on the amount of funding needed in the next biennium to provide an adequate public school education. The report made no specific recommendation on teachers' health insurance but called for continued discussion of the issue leading up to the 2009 legislative session.
Next month, Arkansas teachers with single-coverage plans will see their insurance costs go from $152 per month to $180 per month as the percentage of total costs paid by employees increases from 41.6 percent to 46.6 percent.
Employees' insurance costs will go from $392 per month to $498 per month for family plans as their share of total costs increases from 62 percent to 70.4 percent.
Cost-of-living adjustments for teachers tend to be eaten up by health insurance costs, Marzoni said.
"We are asking that you choose the largest COLA in the matrix, so that more money ... (flows) through the system, and second, we are recommending that you find some money and put it aside under ... state contributions," he said.
The Legislature added $35 million to the state's contribution to teachers' health insurance in 2005, but it provided no increase during the 2007 legislative session.
Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, asked how insurance costs have affected the state's ability to retain teachers.
Richard Wilson, assistant director of the Bureau of Legislative Research, said former Arkansas teachers were surveyed last year on their reasons for leaving the profession.
"Because 75 percent of the respondents were female, it was childbearing and family issues that was the No. 1 reason," Wilson said. "No. 2 was low salaries and benefits."
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