Many people in the private sector already pay at least part of the cost of their health insurance, said state Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township, who sponsored the bill.

“It’s happening all around us,” he said.

Jansen said requiring public employees to do the same would incite these workers to take ownership of their health.

Leonard Fleck, a philosophy professor and faculty member in MSU’s Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, said the state government spends most of its money on health care, whether it be health insurance or medicare and medicaid.

“The main reason (for this bill) is to try and save state and local governments money on health insurance benefits that they’re currently spending on their employees,” Fleck said.

But opponents claim this bill will harm those that recently have been hired, he said.

“(There is) the sense that younger individuals, who are lower on the scale (in) newer positions, are going to be more adversely affected than those on a senior salary,” Fleck said.

Katie Carey, spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said Whitmer, who voted against the bill, believes it would affect young teachers disproportionately.

“Senate Democrats look at this legislation as another attack on public employees who have already made significant concessions, endured layoffs and had their benefits reduced in recent years,” Carey said.

If all employees were required to pay 20 percent of their premiums, they would be making the same payment regardless of their income.

Those earning a lower salary would see their pay reduced by a higher percentage than those with a higher salary.

But Jansen said the bill allows for employers to graduate the percentage each employee must pay as they see fit.

Local governments, school boards and community colleges, among other public employers, could choose to require newer, lower-salaried employees to pay only 5 percent of their premium while requiring senior, higher-salaried employees to pay a higher percentage, as long as an employer paid no more than 80 percent of the total cost of their employees’ premiums, he said.

“They can do it how they want to do that,” Jansen said. “It’s within their power at the local level.”

This bill would not affect state or university employees unless an amendment to the state constitution is made. The Senate also voted to put the question of such an amendment on the ballot.

Fleck said the price of health insurance premiums depends on the health care provider and the comprehensiveness of the plan. The exact figure for how much MSU annually spends on employee health insurance costs was not readily available Thursday.

But Fleck said the university likely would save millions of dollars if the amendment was passed and it no longer was required to pay a percentage of its employees health insurance premiums.