Health Insurance Contract: Summary
The County’s response to our Health Insurance Contract FOIA Request has left us with questions and concerns.
No Bids Required
We learned that state law exempts county employee health insurance contracts from a competitive bidding process. It appears the 2017 Health Insurance contract for Faulkner County employees was last negotiated at least five years ago by Judge Preston Scroggin and County Administrator Jeff Johnson. We have obtained no information as to the reason(s) for selecting the current providers/contract.
Certainly in this age of changing coverages in the marketplace there is plenty of reason to re-bid this contract for the 320+ county employees. While the current policy may still be the most beneficial for employees, a cost of $3 million plus certainly would at least deserve a careful and open review, since so many years have passed since it was negotiated.
Who is the Agent?
The 7/6/18 file-dated contract documents presented by County management show the Agent for the contract received a fee of approximately 3% of the total contract (around $90,000). That Agent is listed as Hawkins, Jessen, and Clayborn, LLC; however, as of this date, records at the Secretary of State’s Corporations office show that LLC to be dissolved.
Questions to Consider:
- What criteria did Judge Scroggin and Administrator Johnson use to award the Health Insurance Contract when it was last negotiated?
- Is the contract’s current cost (about $11,000+ per employee per year) competitive with other counties in the region?
- Is the cost the best price for taxpayers?
- Who is the agent for the Health Insurance Contract, since the LLC listed in the contract has been dissolved?
- Does that dissolved LLC present any legal ramifications for the county under this contract?
- If the Health Insurance Contract were re-bid for the 2019 budget, would that process be open and reviewed by the Quorum Court?
INTERESTING TOPIC. MAYBE ANSWERS TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WILL FOLLOW SOON. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.