COLUMBIA - State employees, teachers, police officers, government retirees - all 370,000 people who get their insurance through the State Health Plan - will see their premiums raised or benefits cut by an average $65 a month next year.

One of those workers is Mary Welch, a teacher's aide in Florence School District 3 who makes $12,798 a year. After taxes and other deductions, her check every other week is $295.

Welch, 51, already is paying $200 a month for health care, and faces the prospect of $100 more for coverage for herself, her husband and her daughter, a senior at the University of South Carolina-Sumter.

"I love what I do," Welch said. "I'm not in it for the money, but it would be nice to take home a little bit."

How much Welch and her co-workers will take home in pay next year could be decided Tuesday, when the state's top financial officers, led by Gov. Mark Sanford, address the state's health insurance woes. Their options are to raise premiums or cut benefits or some combination of both.

The state's five top financial officers, who make up the State Budget and Control Board, will meet Tuesday to set rates for next year. Their options are limited.

Only the General Assembly can put more state money into the plan, and it does not return until January. Meanwhile, the state's budget woes have not improved.

And because the legislature did not raise the state's contribution, the insurance plan cannot ask its other employers - 37 counties, 79 cities, all the school districts and other entities - to raise their contributions.

That leaves the Budget and Control Board with a $162 million gap to fill if the plan is to provide the same benefits next year as this year.

Sanford and the board can:

Raise premiums an average of $65 a month from $50 to $100 for a single employee, from $200 to $300 for a family.

Raise deductibles, now at $250 for the standard plan and $100 for emergency room visits.

Raise co-payments, now at $7 for generic prescription drugs and $22 for brand-names.

Eliminate or restrict services. The state plan pays for some services that many private plans don't, including unlimited chiropractic visits at an estimated cost of $22 million this year and in-vitro fertilization for women who have difficulty getting pregnant.

Change how state health plan contracts with doctors and hospitals are negotiated, or how the plan works.

The state contracts with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina to process all the plan's paperwork and with other companies for prescription drug coverage and mental health benefits. The plan paid 4 percent of its total costs for administration $37 million last year.

Of that, $26 million goes to Blue Cross.

The Budget and Control Board staff will make some recommendations at Tuesday's meeting but would not reveal them Friday. Whatever option Sanford and the others choose must bring in about $65 a month, per member.

Everything is on the table, said Mike Sponhour, spokesman for the Budget and Control Board.

Any changes to the plan must be made by Aug. 15 to allow time to inform plan members before the enrollment period in October, when employees can add or change their health benefits. The changes would take effect Jan. 1.