Comptroller notes better administration of health benefits
The administration of Ulster County employee health benefits has improved since a 2014 audit, according to county Comptroller Elliott Auerbach.
The first audit expressed concerns about eligibility and dependent coverage for over 4,000 participants.
The original audit concluded the personnel department charged with maintaining the necessary information “[did] not have standard procedures in place for documenting enrollee eligibility.” The audit also highlighted employee unresponsiveness, fabricated records and incomplete employee files.
Auerbach said Monday that subsequent testing and examination determined his recommendations for stronger internal controls were implemented.
“I commend the strengthening of procedures, the cooperation from the benefits administrator and personnel director, and the overall efficiency of the program,” the comptroller said. “As with every audit, our goal is to protect the taxpayers’ interest and confirm that programs are devoid of waste, fraud and abuse.”
The 2014 audit of Ulster County’s health plan found that only six of the 606 employees who responded at that time were enrolled in plans to which they were not entitled, but Auerbach said a review of the records of employees who did not respond suggested the county had failed to properly oversee eligibility.
Of the 160 employees enrolled in the county’s plus-one or family plans who did not respond in 2014, Auerbach said at that time, a sampling of 75 of those employees’ health plans showed no documentation supporting coverage for 130 of the 177 enrolled dependents.
“Seventy-three percent of the nonresponsive participant files did not contain evidence supporting health benefit eligibility,” Auerbach said.