Patch Poll: Should State Employees Pay More for Health Care?

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and others have said they will begin paying 20 percent of their health insurance premiums and have called on other state employees to do the same.

Single full-time state employees don't have to pay any premiums for single health-insurance plans, while non-public workers paid $832 a year on average, as of 2010.

Covering 20 percent would cost a single person on the least expensive insurance plan about $1,000 each year, according to a news release from Sen. Jerry Behn, R-Boone, who is wants to see state employees pay more for their insurance.

Currently, state employees pay $265 to $280 a month for family coverage in three out of five plans available in January 2012. Part-time state employees pay more.

In contrast, the average insured and employed Iowan contributed about $832 for single coverage and $3,670 for family coverage in 2010, according to figures from the National Conference of State Legislatures. (That would be a monthly premium of about $70 and $306 a month respectively.)

If state employees working full time voluntarily paid 20 percent of their premiums, their monthly bill would range from $91 to $355 depending on which plan they chose.

What do you think? Should state employees pay the 20 percent the governor has called on them to?