Health insurance rates for public employees will increase as much as 25 percent next year -a mark-up even worse than expected. Consultants said today the state should raise premiums by an average of 23 percent for school district employees, 18 percent for municipal and county employees, and 11 percent for state workers. Fred Beaver, director of the Division of Pensions and Benefits, said the state has no choice but to adopt the recommended rates. “If it’s something less, we wouldn’t have enough money to pay the claims,” he said. “The checkbook runs dry. Read full Statehouse Bureau here.