Sebastian County revisits health care, jail funding

story by Aric Mitchell
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Sebastian County Quorum Court members met on Tuesday night to discuss a number of issues, among them pay increases, new positions at the detention center, and a revisit to the health care plan for 2011.

While the Dec. 7 meeting witnessed final approval of a partially self-funded plan with approximate premium costs coming in at $2.9 million, some court members felt the issue was worth revisiting in light of a recently reduced quote from the county’s current provider United Health Care.

Linda Murry wanted to make sure that the board was aware of the final offer from United Health Care and what it would mean as a price deferential from what was adopted at the previous meeting. According to UHC representative Stephanie Norman, a final quote for 2011 would reduce the overall premium by $900,000 to $2.1 million.

However, not all were convinced that revisiting the issue was a good idea.

County Judge David Hudson, particularly, saw little value in carrying on the conversation.

“I appreciate there are some questions and concerns about the decision, but honestly, I don’t see how to un-spring this. I know it’s a complex issue, but it was presented to the court in a fair manner. You were all briefed as to the differences between the two plans, and you reached a good decision. So I’m confused as to where this is going. What is the objective?” Hudson said.

Quorum Court member Shawn Looper, an opponent of the self-funded plan, was of little support for Norman as she brought the new quote before the court.

“Why did the bid go down from 29% to 15%? Was it because you were losing the business?” he asked.

Norman said a two-month lag in claims data was to blame for the changes in numbers.

“We wanted to present you with the most accurate quote we could, given the information that was available to us at the time,” Norman said.

Norman also said she was not allowed to present her plan to the court itself. However, the protocol is to work directly with Hudson, something that representative Tom Craft pointed out as being common knowledge to healthcare providers. The meeting closed with the partially self-funded plan locked in place.

However, that did not stop the court from reversing a previous budgeting decision of adding staff to the Sebastian County Detention Center. According to Sheriff-Elect Bill Hollenbeck, the correctional facility is drastically under-staffed and has come under fire from the Department of Justice for how ill-equipped it is to handle the inmates.

“We have 15 deputies on day and 9 at night, not counting sick time and vacation time. The 8 deputies proposed (which were denied at December’s budget meeting) are underestimated,” Hollenbeck said.

“Maybe 8 are not feasible; then again, maybe it is,” Hollenbeck continued. “But please give us something. We have to show the Department of Justice that we’re serious about moving forward to keep the federal government from coming in and taking over this jail. Anything you could come up with would certainly help out.”

Plans to renegotiate the allotted price per day of inmates from $38 to $53 per inmate would result in an additional $160,000 the detention center could then use to add staff. At a projected salary of around $40,000 per year, the renegotiation between the county and the U.S. Marshals will result in 4 new positions.

“It certainly helps,” Hollenbeck later added.

Also amended for the 2011 budget was a resolution to offer county employees a 2% cost of living increase from the previous year, which passed without opposition.

Near the conclusion of Tuesday night’s meeting, the court recognized four members who would be stepping down from service on Jan. 1: Tom Craft, Paul Rivaldo, Lee Webb, and Jim Perry.