1. Of the nearly 20 million state and local government employees, 66 percent were enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans in 2008, compared with 54 percent of private-sector workers.
2. The highest average annual total premium ($6,631) for government workers’ plans covering a single employee was in the New England states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut).
3. The lowest average annual total premium ($4,560) for a single employee was in the West South Central states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas).
4. The highest average annual total premium ($16,965) for plans that covered families was in the New England states.
5. The lowest average annual total premium ($12,068) for plans that covered families was in the South Atlantic states (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia).
6. Workers with single-coverage plans in New England contributed substantially more on average ($1,097) to the cost of their premium than the average contribution ($291) of workers in the neighboring Middle Atlantic states (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania).
7. Workers in the West South Central states contributed the most on average to their family plan ($4,048) premium while those in the Middle Atlantic states contributed the least ($957).
Source: AHRQ.
