Lorain County commissioners divided, spar over hiring of benefits brokers

ELYRIA — Lorain County commissioners this week approved numerous contracts with agencies to provide health care and benefits services for county employees. A divided board voted 2-1 to approve most of the agenda items, with the board's two Republicans overriding the lone Democrat's "no" votes on several matters. On Wednesday, the board approved in a 2-1 vote on a contract with the firm Taylor Oswald of Cleveland, effective through May 1, 2024, as the county's local insurance agent for Ohio's County Risk Sharing Authority, or CORSA. CORSA is a nonprofit property and liability risk sharing pool established by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio in 1987, when the CCAO said commercial liability insurance for counties "was either unavailable or unaffordable," according to its website. Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, voted "no" on the matter, saying he couldn't support the move because he had not seen a contract with the agency. "In fact, I haven't been able to see a contract for a number of these items," he told Republican commissioners Dave Moore and Michelle Hung, referencing changes they voted to make to county benefits providers. Hung said she received notice of the change to Taylor Oswald late Tuesday. County Administrator Tom Williams said there was no contract for the previous CORSA provider and that fees remain the same with the only change being in the broker, which will not receive a commission until May 2022. Lundy also voted "no" on an agreement with Andrew McDonnell of Velocity Advisors, effective Feb. 3 through Dec. 31, 2023, as the county's representative for Supplemental 125 insurance benefits, or flexible spending accounts, for county employees. "Once again, I haven't seen supporting documentation," he said, noting the matter was a late addition to the board's agenda Wednesday. Hung and Moore voted "yes" on the matter. The board further voted 2-1, with Lundy again voting "no," to terminate effective immediately an August 2020 consulting agreement with National Benefit Programs Inc. of Columbus. The insurance brokerage firm AssuredPartners Inc. of Florida purchased National Benefit Programs Inc. in December, according to a news release the company put out on Dec. 30. Lundy said he had concerns about whether the county could be in trouble and "what the legal ramifications of rescinding that agreement" with National Benefit Programs might be. Hung said the previous board of commissioners had a month-to-month contract with NBP, after which that company was bought by AssuredPartners. "We are now in the process of moving on," she said. Moore said few Ohio counties, townships or school districts "have a contract for this." "This is a broker of record," he said. "Nobody signs a contract for two years on this. Good luck with any legal (action) if you think you're going to sue us. To lock in our county for two years to do this makes it questionable why it was done." "Information needs to be shared with the entire board, and that includes me," Lundy replied. County Administrator Tom Williams said he sent all three commissioners information on the changes that morning. He apologized for not getting to it the day before because he was involved in other county business. "The previous contract was four years, and the broker of record previous was then sold," Williams said, "so as far as litigation goes, I believe we are on sound ground and my recommendation to the board would be to move forward." Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Dan Petticord told the board his office had not issued an opinion on the changes. "Whether the board has received outside advice or not, my office has not issued an opinion," he said. The board unanimously approved hiring Minute Men HR Insurance Agency LLC of Cleveland as insurance agent and broker of record for Lorain County for services including "to locate, monitor, negotiate, structure, review and administer county life insurance, health care benefits, dental, vision, 2021 prescription drug benefits, stop-loss coverage and similar employee type benefits" effective Feb. 1 through the end of the year. Minute Men is the county's current third-party administrator for Bureau of Workers' Compensation claims, and the county has worked with the company since 2007. Commissioners also unanimously adopted a policy, amending a previous resolution adopted Jan. 4, to allow county employees to be eligible to participate in the county health plan on their date of hire. In other business The commissioners unanimously approved: A contract with Greenman-Pedersen Inc. worth $372,000 to provide construction administration and inspection services for paving and waterline improvements on North Ridge Road in Sheffield and Elyria townships. Eighty percent of the project will be funded by the Ohio Department of Transportation and 20 percent by the Ohio Public Works Commission. A service agreement with Adaptive Engineering Group of Lorain worth $32,500 for plans and specifications to repair and update three sections of outdated guardrail in Lorain County. An engineering services agreement with K.E. McCartney & Associates worth $24,420 to prepare electrical engineering documents for a sanitary sewer pump station that will benefit the ongoing Carvana building project in Elyria Township. In scheduling matters, commissioners will hold their first round of county budget hearings starting Tuesday and Thursday, Feb. 9 and 11. They will meet again in public at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.