County Rejects Union Request

Concerned about triggering increases in health care costs, Ventura County supervisors Tuesday rejected the Deputy Sheriffs Assn.’s request to give union members the option of another health insurance plan.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to put off the request after the county’s benefit manager and a consultant warned that it could lead to higher insurance rates for the rest of the county’s employees.

Dave Williams, president of the Deputy Sheriffs Assn., asked for the option because some of the 559 union members are dissatisfied with Foundation Health, and some retirees have trouble getting the HMO to cover health care outside of the area.

Williams also noted that county firefighters were given the option to use Blue Cross as well as the other health plans provided by the county.

But county Benefits Manager Barbara A. Olivier said the firefighters union won the extra health plan as a concession to end difficult contract negotiations. She urged the supervisors not to give away something to the deputies union six months before it is scheduled to renegotiate a contract.

More importantly, she said, Foundation Health has advised that it may increase its rates for next year’s contract if the county allows the deputies union to opt out of its coverage.

Olivier said by offering Foundation Health a chance to provide coverage for 14,000 county employees and dependents, the county had improved its purchasing power and negotiated a 2% reduction in health care costs for next year. Removing employees from that block of patients would reduce the county’s leverage.

Some of the supervisors agonized over the decision for about an hour before rejecting the request. But they vowed to start earlier next year in reviewing an array of health care options for county employees.