Federal employees and retirees on average will pay 13.5 percent more for their health insurance premiums next year, the highest increase in more than two decades.

According to the Office of Personnel Management, the drivers of this year’s premium increase are higher prices of covered medication like weight-loss drugs, behavioral health care services, and greater use of outpatient procedures.

This large increase is just one more reason NTEU continues to urge President Biden and Congress to provide federal employees an average 7.4 percent increase as called for by the FAIR Act. NTEU also supports efforts in Congress to reduce enrollee health care costs, such as prescription drug-related pharmacy benefit manager legislation that would provide consumers with more transparency, and at times, cheaper options at the pharmacy counter. Read more