North Port switches insurance providers

Mar. 24--NORTH PORT -- The North Port City Commission unanimously approved both switching from Cigna to Aetna for health insurance and hiring Heather Taylor as the new city clerk Tuesday morning, while meeting under new social-distancing norms at city hall.

To observe social distancing on the dais, the five board members kept one seat between each of them, with the city manager, city attorney and city clerk sitting at the table typically reserved for presentations, and faced the board. They, too, were separated from each other by an empty seat.

Public comment was taken online and read into the record by City Manager Peter Lear.

The city switched from Cigna to Aetna as its insurance provider, effective May 1, because Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and First Physicians Group will no longer be in-network with Cigna insurance effective April 30.

Lear said the best option was to switch providers, rather than have city employees pay out-of-network rates at Sarasota Memorial, which also operates an emergency room in North Port.

"They are not only our public hospital but they are the largest physicians group in the area," Lear said.

Sarasota Memorial and Cigna broke off contract negotiations late last year, with a final extension granted until April 30, so people can make other arrangements, if they wished.

A hospital spokeswoman has previously said that the major sticking point in its negotiations with Cigna is the fact that third-party providers use the Cigna name to offer health plans that don't cover all of the services Cigna does in its contract with SMH.

A Cigna spokeswoman has previously countered that the issue was the rate of reimbursement.

Before the contract dispute, Cigna had provided insurance for public employees for the cities of North Port and Sarasota as well as the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

Sarasota has since moved to Blue Cross, Blue Shield, while the Sheriff's Office is switching to Aetna as well.

More than 600 employees and retirees from the city of North Port are affected by the switch.

Shawn Fleming, a senior benefits consultant with Gehring Group, assured the commission that policies from the two providers are 96 percent compatible.

He later added that all enrollment information will be transferred from Cigna to Aetna.

After unanimously approving that change, the commission dealt with the contract for City Clerk Heather Taylor, who had served as interim city clerk since October 2019, when her predecessor, Kathryn Wong, did not return after maternity leave and resigned.

The board offered Taylor the job in February.

As part of the new deal, her salary was increased from $97,000 to $115,000 a year, though a $500 monthly car allowance was removed.

North Port Mayor Debbie McDowell said she could not see Taylor receiving another $6,000 on top of her salary, when she does not travel extensively within the county, other than to the Sarasota County Clerk of Court.

In what was the only public comment of the morning, Lear read an email from David Duval, who objected both to the size of Taylor's raise and the car allowance.

Instead of the allowance, Taylor will receive mileage reimbursement like other employees.

With the car allowance removed, McDowell said she could approve the contract so it could be a unanimous vote.

___

(c)2020 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.

Visit Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla. at www.heraldtribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.