Skyrocketing health care costs are forcing the state’s largest university to consider “draconian measures” to balance the budget.
University of Delaware’s President Dennis Assanis said as much in state budget hearings last week, as institutions like his brace for an unprecedented hikes in state employees’ health insurance premiums. That’s a possible 27% increase in the next fiscal year 2025, with more to come.
These figures could change. State leaders expect the tenuous situation with state health benefits to make this proposed hike a primary focus for lawmakers this budget season, as previously reported .
But there’s short-term impact. UD already invests some two-thirds of its annual budget in employee compensation and benefits. The university expects fiscal year 2024 costs, being incurred right now, to spike between $20 million and $40 million, according to the president. And he has to pivot.
Assanis alerted university faculty and staff to several immediate cost-saving measures, with the possibility of more to come, in a letter sent Feb. 6. This joins mention of a hiring freeze, shared in last week’s hearing, and plans to delay as many capital projects as possible.