CHARLESTON — After two years of back-to-back large premium hikes, public employees in West Virginia could see a substantially smaller premium increase for their health insurance benefits, although a surcharge for providing coverage to spouses is expected to rise.

The finance board of the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency met Thursday to tentatively approve a financial plan for fiscal year 2027 beginning on July 1, 2026. Final approval of the plan will occur in December after a series of public hearings across the state beginning in November.

“We’ve been primarily focused over the last few months on formulating our draft fiscal 2027 financial plan,” said PEIA Executive Director Brent Wolfingbarger. “That has required a lot of effort and thought and time.”

The FY27 PEIA fina

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