Our State Health Plan isn’t the only one dealing with the pressures of outrageous hospital costs.

IDAHO chose to drop an East Idaho hospital, Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, from its network rather than accept the hospital owners’ terms for a reimbursement rate increase, which would have increased premiums for all 65,000 members by 7%. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/if-idaho-insurer-met-hospitals-pay-raise-state-employees-costs-would-rise-official-says

NEW YORK: ~40,000 NYC public workers, retirees & families nearly lost in-network access to NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals over a fight about reimbursement rates. Their union called it a “power play.” Same story, different state. https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/04/03/union-health-coverage-newyork-presbyterian-emblemhealth-uft-dc37/

OKLAHOMA: State employee premiums are expected to rise up to 19% because of rising medical costs. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/experts-warn-oklahomans-should-expect-health-insurance-costs-spike

NEW JERSEY: Public worker unions say the state’s failure to rein in hospital prices drove costs up more than 55% since 2022. Local government plan premiums jumped 16.3% in a single year. https://cwad1.org/shbp2025

CONNECTICUT: Regulators are warning of “rate shock” for 2026. A driver they named directly — community hospitals demanding big reimbursement increases to shore up their finances. https://ctnewsjunkie.com/2025/08/19/ct-regulators-warn-of-rate-shock-as-health-insurers-seek-double-digit-premium-hikes-for-2026/

MASSACHUSETTS: State workers face an average 7.5% premium hike for 2027 — and that’s AFTER the plan cut coverage for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs to hold costs down. https://recorder.com/2026/03/10/state-health-plan-rate-increase/

VIRGINIA: State employees absorbed a 9.3% total premium increase, softened only because the state pulled from a reserve fund. Rising medical costs, same squeeze. https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2024/RD76

There’s a fix worth watching. MONTANA tied what its state plan pays hospitals to a share of Medicare rates — and saved taxpayers $47.8 MILLION in hospital costs in just two years. Reference pricing works. https://chir.georgetown.edu/in-an-era-of-premium-and-provider-price-increases-state-employee-health-plans-target-key-cost-drivers/

The pattern is clear coast to coast: hospital and medical costs are squeezing state employees (and ALL citizens) everywhere. If legislators want to help, they should start by opening up the contracts so we know what we’re paying, and what “nonpreferred” hospitals like Atrium are charging.