Tuesday, April 29, 2008

$17,620 for Family Coverage, at Taxpayer Expense

Categories: Rhode Island

Wondering how you're going to pay for the high cost of insurance? Here's one way: get elected to the Rhode Island legislature.

Membership in the part-time body (meeting no more than 6 months this year) earned legislators a salary of $13,089 in 2007. It also brought taxpayer-paid health insurance premiums of $5,810 for individual coverage or $16,233 for family coverage. On July 1 those numbers are going up to $6,305 and $17,620, respectively.

Unlike the members of the legislature, other state employees pay a portion of their insurance out of their paychecks.

Insurance is simply another form of compensation. But it's clear that legislators have little reason to recognize that truth--or the fact that the policies they enact drive up the cost of insurance--if they can draw on the public purse for their coverage.