Group Health Cooperative on Monday announced it would lower its monthly premiums for Washington's state-subsidized health plan for low-income working residents by as much as 80% beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the Seattle Times reports. Group Health sponsors a health plan under the state Basic Health insurance program for low-income working residents. The lower premiums will be available to residents of King, Snohomish, Kitsap and Spokane counties with annual incomes of less than 200% of the federal poverty level. Members on average will pay monthly premiums of $36.32, while the state will pay an average of $182.16 per month per Basic Health member. Group Health officials said they hope the lower premiums -- which will match Basic Health premiums offered by its competitors, Community Health Plan of Washington and Molina Healthcare -- will help improve its enrollment. Group Health currently has 8,000 Basic Health members in five counties. Greg Swint, vice president of marketing and sales for Group Health, said the result of the insurer's declining membership has been a higher proportion of the sickest and costliest residents. "We have been losing money in (Basic Health) and expect to continue to lose money in 2007, [but] we have a strong social commitment to serving the underserved population," Swint said. Basic Health enrollment peaked at more than 136,000 in November 2002, but the state legislator in 2005 capped enrollment at 100,000 because of budgetary constraints. The cap will increase to 106,500 next year (Song, Seattle Times, 10/10).

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