Health care credit wasn’t in jeopardy, HR director says [Republican & Herald, Pottsville, Pa.]

Dec. 13--Although it was recently discovered that Schuylkill County has been overpaying for employee health care benefits, Martina A. Chwastiak, county human resources director, said Wednesday a recently revealed $74,545.23 credit was never in jeopardy as the county is self-insured with Pennsylvania Counties Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperative.

On Tuesday, county Controller Christy D. Joy issued a press release saying a recent audit of the health care rolls found several errors, including two deceased retirees, several laid-off employees and a former county commissioner still receiving monthly benefits.

Chwastiak explained Wednesday that losses have been minimal as 80 percent of county health insurance premiums are used toward the cost of claims. If there are no claims, that money goes back to the county.

"... If a retiree passes away or an employee is not taken off the health insurance invoice right away due to no longer working for the county, there is no cost to the county," Chwastiak said in a prepared statement. "We have always received a credit from Benecon for the entire amount of the premium when an error is caught and ultimately the money comes back to the county at the end of they year ..."

Errors are also often found during billing cycles, which run a few months behind.

Chwastiak said the county has received more than $1 million back every year based on the agreement with the provider. The PCHIP is managed by Benecon, which is also the county's benefit administrator.

Chwasiak also said the refund consisted of 18 people over a two-year period, with additional errors that were found by the county Human Resources Department. Out of those 18 errors, 12 were not made by the county.

The former Rest Haven business office employees left on the rolls until October was the result of a systems error on June 30 by the insurance provider, Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The Rest Haven workers were laid off by the county over the summer, but rehired under the employ of Service Access & Management Inc. when the organization was contracted to run the nursing home's business operations.

Due to that systems error, Chwasiak said, Benecon did not have the report needed to audit the health insurance invoices before sending them to the human resources department.

Schuylkill County'sBlue Cross and Blue Shield is about $950,000 a month, or $11.5M annually.

"I am very proud of the HR team. Since I became the HR director in November of 2009, my staff and I have worked very hard to provide HR services to all the employees and retirees and manage the Risk Management responsibilities, which include the county property and automobile liability insurance," Chwasiak said. "We've saved the county over a half-million dollars by reducing workers' compensation claims and getting premiums reduced by our insurance carriers due to our efforts in risk management. I have found and corrected errors that saved the county significant dollars."

The county HR Department manages nine health insurance plans, seven different union contracts and retirement plans for 1,847 insured employees. The staff consisted of two people until a few months ago when it was increased to three.

Chwastiak said the proper measures have been put in place with Benecon and health insurance brokers, Seltzer and ETA Benefits Group, to prevent similar situations in the future.

"I can assure the public that human resources worked very hard to get the $74,545.23 refunded, most all of which has been received to date," she said. "We'll continue to work with Benecon to get the balance refunded so there is no loss to the county ..."

___

(c)2012 the Republican & Herald (Pottsville, Pa.)

Visit the Republican & Herald (Pottsville, Pa.) at republicanherald.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services