Magistrate Turpen, KACo representatives still sparring over insurance figures [Commonwealth Journal, Somerset, Ky.]

Oct. 26—And the insurance debate continues.

Over two weeks after the Pulaski County Fiscal Court voted to retain Neikirk Insurance as their health insurance provider for their county employees, a county magistrate and KACo representatives are still slugging it out.

While the county's health insurance only applies to only 223 of its nearly 65,000 residents, the opposing entities felt it was important to clear the air on their differences of the two submitted insurance plans.

Recently, First District Magistrate Jason Turpen explained why he voted to retain Neikirk Insurance for the county's health insurance needs. A day later two representatives from KACo stated there was some inaccuracies in Turpen's assessment of their proposed plan.

R. Alan Bays, Director of Agency Operations at First Insurance Group, stated, "I would like to address the inaccuracies [Turpen] stated regarding the KACo/Anthem Health Plan presentation provided to PCFC [Pulaski County Fiscal Court] on Oct. 10, 2023."

Previously, Turpen had stated that the KACo plan showed having a 4% commission fee added on.

According to Bays, at no time was there ever a KACo plan presented with a 4% commission, and there is not an additional 4% in commission paid.

However, Turpen states that in all the documents he was presented with during his insurance committee research, a 4% commission rate was listed underneath each plan.

"The documents that we received from KACo and their plan proposals all show a 4% commission on each plan, the fees, and commissions that I covered in my [previous] statement," Turpen said. "Now I believe if I was trying to sell insurance and kept saying that we do not charge a 4% commission, then I would not give out documents that say '4% commission' under every plan."

Bays stated that the only added fees and commissions were the $5.75 per employee McGregor HRA Fee and the flat $28 PMPM commission — which is the total commission that KACo/Anthem pays. He also reiterated there was no undisclosed fees or commissions.

Kelly Harding, of Peel and Harding, presented the KACo plan to the fiscal court on Oct. 10 and stated that he understood that attempting to absorb all the information in one meeting can be overwhelming. Harding also felt there were a number of items incorrect in (Turpen's) statement about KACo's plan.

"KACo includes fees for Third Party Administrators, and this fee is included in the rates provided by Anthem," Harding explained. "We do not 'tack them on' after the fact. In addition, these fees are reviewed at the annual renewal meeting that all participating employers are invited to attend. These fees are disclosed in full, reviewed, and approved by those attending the meeting.

"Third Party Administrator fees are substantially lower than what the current agent has charged the county for years, and includes more services than the current agency is providing," Harding added.

Harding went on to state that KACo's plan was better for the county than their current health insurance plan, which is provided by Neikirk Insurance.

"...The rates provided by KACo include services that the current agent has charged a substantial fee for," Harding said. "If you added their historical fees to their proposed premium, KACo would have been less expensive. The plan offered by KACo is a better plan for the employees than offered today. One question not answered is will the current agent provide the same services as in the past for no additional fee? If not, then who will pick up the additional workload?

"One of the values of KACo is premium protection in years of high claims," he continued. "The fiscal court would be blended with all the groups from the Association. That way, in bad years the Association provides protection. We understand county governments are budget driven and we strive to bring predictable and budgetable renewals. At the end of the day, KACo would have been slightly more expensive. This is a result of the current agent's decision to no longer charge the additional 2% override. We would have provided all the current services and some additional services. The final health plan we proposed was a better plan for the employees of the county."

Turpen stated that he felt his and the court's [4-2 vote] decision to stay with Neikirk Insurance will save the county money and he felt it was the right call to make.

"I said that the KACo plan would be almost $75,000 more expensive and Mr. Harding has verified that their plan is 'slightly' more expensive," Turpen stated. "I made my [previous] statement to clarify my reasoning behind my vote. I stand behind my statement and I stand behind my vote 100%. I think the court made the right choice."

Contact Steve Cornelius at [email protected].

Contact Steve Cornelius at [email protected].

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