Paying for clinic did not hinder purchase of equipment
“Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of bluster concerning the clinic, Fund 263 insurance account and that notorious $700,000 increase in our budget. We wanted to set the record straight with facts. Now that the books have closed, we have accurate numbers to present,” stated Russell Bearden, Anderson County Human Resources Director, in an email to county officials last week, reporting to county officials on the Human Resources Department’s closing of Fund 263.
Bearden stated in his email that he also wanted to clear up some “misinformation” that Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank sent in an email to the county fire commission and citizens following the discussion during the Commission meeting last Monday about the possibility of funding the Medford Fire Department with a new fire engine in the future.
Frank sent out an email to members of the county’s fire commission on July 19, two days after the Commission meeting, alleging that one reason why the MVFD was not getting their funding for a fire truck this year was because the money went to funding the county employee health care clinic, not Anderson County Emergency Medical Services, as some on the commission implied during Monday’s Commission meeting last week.
In the email, Frank alleged that commission’s funding priority this fiscal year was the employee health care clinic, and that the clinic expenses — now almost $600,000 — caused an increase in the county’s annual appropriation by “well over $700,000,” leaving the county without funds to purchase a fire truck for another fire department this year.
Frank requested to be present at the next fire commission meeting so she could offer productive ideas in what she explained is an attempt to get the county’s fire truck resolution “back on track” to an annual appropriation like commission had previously established before budgetary restraints curbed the frequency of county funding to fire departments and first responders.
In response to Frank’s assertion that the employee health care clinic is costing the county money instead of saving the county money, Bearden and HR department employees have offered the following facts and figures on Fund 263: stop loss changes produced a savings of $116, 977 in premiums; the change from Humana Rx to HealthSmart Rx exhibited a decrease in the cost of medications of $10, 703; Rx changes additionally provided a savings/refund of $66, 124, giving a total savings on the Rx modifications of $76,827; and the switch from Humana to Blue Cross Blue Shield has contributed to a savings of $25, 735 in administration fee savings.
“It cost the county $52,000 for the employee medical clinic, not $700,000,” said Bearden.
Out of 280 CareHere clinics in operation, the Anderson County Thrive Health and Wellness Clinic for county employees has also been reported to be the “best performer” out of all the clinics, with more than $175,000 in savings, reported Kim Jeffers-Whitaker, Deputy HR director, in an informational report sent to county officials last week detailing the HR department’s closing of Fund 263.
According to Whitaker’s report, the $175,000 in savings also did not include “an estimated $53,000 savings employees saw in copays and Rx.”
“We are thrilled with the Thrive Center’s success and the opportunity it provides the employees while saving Anderson County Government and taxpayers money,” stated Whitaker.
Whitaker also explained the $700,000 increase from the 2016-2017 budget of $4.2 million to the 2017-2018 proposed budget of $4.9 million the mayor referenced in her email to the fire commission.
“In building an expenditure record, the actual cost for the 2016-2017 fiscal year was $5.1 million—the proposed budget calculated against the actual expenditures confirm a shortfall of nearly $1 million. This speaks to the grave error of the 2016-2017 proposed budget. This same oversight occurred during plan year 2015-2016. The proposed budgeted amount was $3.8 million which was less than the prior year’s cost with the actual cost of the 2015-2016 GL reaching over $4.2 million,” said Whitaker.
The report additionally detailed how the county’s former accounts and budget director told HR employees the county’s budget department “simply guessed at the amount” and “fit” it into the needs of the county’s budget with the expectation that if the fund “came up short,” budget department officials would request more funding from county commission.
“This was an acceptable, known process” county officials “continually supported through the 2016-2017 fiscal year proposed budget,” said Whitaker, who added that she was unsure why attention was being called to the increase, “when those responsible knew the payment year requests were no more than a ‘fix’ and a ‘guess.’”
She also credited, in her report, Anderson County Finance Director Natalie Erb, who was hired last year by the county to handle the county’s finances, for opening the door for the HR department to play a significant role in the oversight of the fund and in the 2017-2018 proposed budget, something Whitaker and other HR employees say was not done prior to Erb being hired as finance director for the county.
“HR hadn’t been part of the budget process,” stated Bearden. “This is the first year we have had a say in the budget for the coming year.”
The increase from the 2016-2017 to the 2017-2018 proposed budget is the result of the fund “not being shepherded properly in the PY’s” to begin with, Whitaker continued.
Future goals of the HR department include continuing to work closely with the county’s finance department and HR board of trustees to ensure Fund 263 this upcoming year is stabilized.
“Our claims were more this year and yet we still finished this year in the black and paid back the money we borrowed ($210,000 from the county general fund 101),” Bearden said. “We just want people to know the facts, and that is, the medical clinic has been a savings to the county overall, and continues to save us money.”
