State workers should contribute to health care

By Dubuque Telegraph Herald

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We know the day is coming. Free health insurance for public employees was a nice gig while it lasted, people will say. But let's get serious. It's time everyone paid their share.

That's the thing about freebies: They aren't really free. Somebody is paying, whether you realize it or not. In this case, it's taxpayers.

Gov. Terry Branstad believes it's time to start shifting that burden away from taxpayers by asking public employees to start paying for 20 percent of their premiums. Branstad said he and the lieutenant governor will begin paying their share next month. A few faithful followers announced they would follow suit. The stampede of employees volunteering to pay for part of their health care has yet to begin. Perhaps that's the flaw in the governor's plan - making it voluntary.

Public employees should be paying a share of their health care coverage. Iowa is one of only a handful of states in that still offers a totally free insurance package to employees. Some 88 percent of Iowa public employees take that deal. It's understandable. The tradition dates back to a time when working for the state meant a smaller paycheck, and the health care benefit was one thing the state could do to shore up the discrepancy.

That's just not the case anymore. Government jobs are highly competitive with private-sector jobs across many strata. In the private sector, as health-care costs continue to climb, virtually all businesses have re-examined their health care benefits and asked employees to take on more of the ever-growing burden. Gradually, public employees need to take on more responsibility for their health coverage as well.

It's not just an issue of fairness. States can't afford to keep footing the insurance bill. Most are facing financial problems and are struggling to cover public pensions -- another employee benefit fast disappearing from the private sector. Nearly every state has to take a hard look at public employee pensions because nearly every state's budget faces a crisis.

Now Branstad is saying it is “only fair and reasonable” that public employees contribute toward their health insurance. That doesn't seem unreasonable. How many private sector employees expect free health insurance? These days, probably nil.

Public employees need to come to the table and make a sacrifice. It's what's fair and it's necessary.