Milwaukee County Secures New Health Care Contract Amid Controversy
Milwaukee County officials have successfully negotiated a new health care contract for their employees and retirees after an unexpected lapse in the previous agreement. This development follows concerns over a potential “catastrophic risk” due to the delay.
The oversight came to light when county supervisors discovered the contract had expired at the end of last year. In response, a joint committee of the County Board’s finance and personnel committees approved a new contract with UnitedHealthcare and Optum Rx. The final approval came from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors with a 13-5 vote.
“Let’s vote yes for this, let’s protect Milwaukee County from making a huge financial catastrophic mistake and move forward,” urged Milwaukee County Supervisor Shawn Rolland prior to the decision.
Supervisor Felesia Martin, who supported the new contract, emphasized the need for greater transparency to prevent future lapses. “There may be a systemic issue here in this entire process, and I am not satisfied, and I am calling for accountability for others who had a hand in this entire process,” she stated.
The newly approved contract is set to last until the end of 2030, providing coverage for over 5,100 county employees, their dependents, and retirees. Despite the lapse, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley assured that no one lost their insurance coverage during the gap. “When we learned about what had happened, we started looking into it and we took swift action,” Crowley explained.
An internal review followed the revelation, and the employee responsible for the lapse, identified as Milwaukee County Human Resources Benefits Director Tony Maze, is no longer with the county. Crowley refrained from commenting on personnel matters, stating, “We are looking internally, making sure that we put things in place to make sure that things like this never happen again moving forward.”
Supervisor Steve Taylor, who opposed the contract, expressed his distrust, saying, “There’s a lot of work (that) needs to be done for me to trust what’s coming out of the administration’s mouth moving forward.”
William Davidson, Milwaukee County’s deputy corporation counsel, explained that the county is self-insured but relies on UnitedHealthcare for benefits administration. “If UHC were to walk away from the county, we would really have no ability to process those claims,” he noted.
Last week, Maze admitted he bypassed county procedures when hiring an outside actuary for the request for proposals to save costs. However, a timeline from the county showed this led to a delay, with necessary documents not being shared promptly with auditors.
Margo Franklin, the county’s chief human resources officer, stated the issue was not escalated to her. Despite this, she supported the contract, asserting, “Despite the mistake, the contract is solid.”
The contract lapse has become a point of contention in the political arena, with Crowley’s opponents highlighting the incident in the gubernatorial race. A spokesperson for Crowley’s campaign defended his leadership, noting his “real, hands-on experience solving these kinds of problems.”
