Public Employee Benefit Program strikes deal to significantly lower HMO premium increases

The Nevada Public Employee Benefit Program has cut a deal with its providers that keeps rates for most state workers flat while reducing the increase on HMO members to just a few dollars a month.Participants raised serious concerns in January when they were told HMO costs could rise as much as $100 a month. And since the state’s benefits budget is set in stone until the 2017 Legislature, that cost would have been on the backs of the employees.PEBP Board members including Jacque Ewing-Tayl