New York City will seek a new provider for its $6 billion health-insurance plan that would require workers to pay premiums for the first time, with discounts for participating in wellness programs, Deputy Mayor Caswell Holloway said. The proposal, which requires approval by unions, would save about $400 million a year, Holloway said. Contracts have expired with all 300,000 city employees, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said any deal must require workers to start paying for health coverage, a cost Holloway said may rise 32 percent to $8.3 billion by 2018. The city reserved 1.25 percent pay raises in its $70.1 billion budget for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1.
