Tripling of insurance premiums confronts bus drivers in labor dispute

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Bus drivers embroiled in an ongoing labor dispute over their retirement plan may get hit with health insurance hikes of up to 329 percent if they don't come to terms on a new contract with The Rapid by this fall, MLive reported.

The cost of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan coverage is proposed to spike 49 percent Oct. 1, pushing up monthly premiums for family coverage by $669, the report said.

Because a 5-year-old state law prohibits public employers from paying any increase in wages or health benefits after a labor pact expires, the full increase in cost would be borne by Rapid workers – spiking the monthly premium for workers with family coverage from the $218 paid this year to $887, according to MLive.