Payment of Health Insurance Premiums for School Districts’ Child Nutrition Program Employees
Executive Summary
In compliance with MISS. CODE ANN. Section 25-15-15 (3) (1972), Mississippi pays the health insurance premiums for public schools’ Child Nutrition Program (CNP) employees with a combination of federal funds, revenues received from students who participate in the program, and (in the event that these two revenue sources are not sufficient to cover CNP expenses, including premiums) local funds. School districts pay CNP employees’ health insurance premiums using the same guidelines (e. g., working at least twenty hours per week) as other school district employees, most of whom have their health insurance premiums paid by state and local funds. Currently, Mississippi’s 5,316 CNP employees’ health insurance premiums cost approximately $23 million annually.
Health insurance premiums for CNP employees in Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana are paid through funds generated by the CNP in each school district of each state. Arkansas provides each school district funding of a fixed amount per child to supplement all costs of school districts, including the CNP program.
Because health insurance premiums of all Mississippi CNP employees are currently being paid and because PEER believes that provisions of CODE Section 25-15-15 (3) adequately address the funding sources for these premiums, PEER recommends no changes in state law in the immediate future regarding the source of payment for these premiums.