Unpaid bill leaves workers without health care
RENSSELAERVILLE Medical coverage will be reinstated for town workers today, Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg told The Enterprise yesterday.
Workers had been without medical services since May 1 due to an unpaid insurance bill.
At a special town board meeting Tuesday, some town workers said they had received bills they shouldnt have to pay and were being refused medical services.
Four of the towns nine highway workers have about $35 deducted weekly from their checks to pay a portion of their health insurance, said Mike Jardine, the towns union shop steward and a highway employee.
Five highway workers do not pay because of a prior contract, he said. For three weeks, money has been taken out of four of the highway workers checks, but they havent been receiving services, he said.
The town uses Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield as its insurance carrier. Twenty-one town workers current and retired are covered by the insurance plan as are the spouses of town employees who are married, Kathy Hallenbeck, the town clerk, told The Enterprise.
"I heard about it 10 days ago, all of a sudden," Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg told The Enterprise yesterday. "It’s the dumbest thing I’ve been in the middle of in a long, long time," he said. "Clearly, we don’t have a problem with money," he said, adding that the town has $1.9 million in bank accounts. "I said, ‘That’s not possible that we haven’t paid,’" he said. The last bill was paid May 1, said Nickelsberg. "I haven’t received any past-due letters," said Nickelsberg Tuesday. "Other than the two or three specific instances (this month), there was no way in the world that I had an inkling there was a problem," he said.
"If I don’t know what’s wrong, how can I fix it"" he asked The Enterprise yesterday. In the interim, if anyone has a bill from his doctor or a prescription bill, Nickelsberg said, "We’ll cut them a check"We’ll pay for it while we’re waiting for the insurance to come back on."
"The bookkeeper pays the bills," he said, "but, ultimately, the responsibility is mine."
All nine highway workers are members of Local 106 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Local 106 President Mike Dodig filed a grievance with the town, said Jardine Tuesday.
Highway workers first discovered they were not receiving insurance coverage when Julie Sikule, a former town assessor, made a visit to the doctors office on May 8 and was told she was no longer covered by the towns insurance provider, said Jardine.
Councilman Gary Chase, son of the highway superintendent, a Democrat who has often been at odds with the Republican supervisor, said he "would like to see in writing" a full report from Nickelsberg detailing why the bills to the insurance company had not been paid.
Tuesday, the town board voted unanimously for Nickelsberg to compile a report. The board also voted to reimburse employees who had paid out-of-pocket for insurance and prescriptions, and also voted to pay all insurance bills two weeks before they are due.
Asked if the workers will be compensated, Nickelsberg replied, "Yes. Whatever is a net loss, they will be compensated"..We can compute that. That’s mathematical."
"The issue’s happened once before. I thought we took care of it," Councilman Chase told The Enterprise. About six months ago, employees had been receiving bills they shouldn’t have had to pay for, he said. He called employees not receiving health benefits "a pretty dramatic issue."
"He is ultimately responsible for that," Chase said of Nickelsberg paying bills. By paying them two weeks before they are due, "we’ll be ahead of the game," he said.
"I was just taken aback," said Chase. Nickelsberg, he said, is "our chief fiscal officer. He should have been on top of it."
