September 21, 2007

WEITZMAN: NASSAU COUNTY WILL SAVE $335K IN 2007
BY ELIMINATING DUPLICATE HEALTH BENEFITS

Calling it “just the first dividend” of what promises to be an important source of future savings, Comptroller Weitzman said today that Nassau County will save $335,000 this year by ending the wasteful practice of providing duplicate health benefits for county employees and retirees married to other covered employees.

In 2008, the Comptroller said, the county could save approximately $1.4 million from the program if the county is able to successfully negotiate “Smart Savings” with more of its unions.

The savings for 2007 includes the elimination of the duplicate benefits for non-union county employees, which became effective January 1, 2007, and for Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association members effective September 1 of this year, as a result of the new PBA contract.  The law covering the non-union employees and retirees was passed unanimously by the County Legislature in September 2006.

“I proposed this common-sense program because it is good for the taxpayers, and it’s good for our employees and retirees since they will continue to receive full family health benefits,” Comptroller Weitzman said.  “With the county’s revenue growth lagging and every part of county government working hard to keep taxes down, we cannot afford to waste millions by purchasing two family health insurance policies for a single family.  This program allows the county to save money without affecting benefit levels – that’s why we call it ‘Smart Savings.’”

“I applaud the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association for joining the county’s non-union workforce in adopting the program this year through their recent contract arbitration,” Weitzman said.  “The savings will continue to escalate as this unnecessary benefit is negotiated out of existing union contracts, allowing county taxpayers to save approximately $15.7 million between now and 2010.”

The cost of providing the duplicate benefits in 2006 for 319 married couples (638 individuals) was approximately $4 million.

Eliminating duplicate benefits was one of several recommendations for curbing Nassau’s runaway county healthcare costs in a report issued by the Comptroller’s Audit Advisory Committee in July of this year (the report may found at http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/comptroller/NewsRelease/2007/07-19-2007.html.)

Under the “Smart Savings” law passed in September 2006, non-union workers and/or retirees married to other covered county employees are no longer eligible to receive two family health benefits packages.  Instead, one spouse will become the primary insured, and the other will receive a $2,000 payment that can be used to pay for any non-covered medical expenses including co-pays and deductibles.  In those rare instances where employees might have to pay more in out-of-pocket medical expenses than they would have with the duplicate policy, the county will reimburse the individual for the amount over $2,000.  County taxpayers, meanwhile, save the cost of the duplicate family health policy, which cost the county $14,377 in 2007.

The overall cost of Nassau County's health benefits for employees and retirees has increased by 60 percent in the last five years, from $151 million to $242 million per year.