Letter to the Editor: Why aren’t the insurance bills being paid?
I have worked in the Treasurer/Tax Collector’s office for over six years. I am here this morning (in front of the Board of Supervisors) to discuss the “inactiveness” of our health benefits, with Operating Engineers. As it has been a hot topic among most of my coworkers, as it should.
I find it very embarrassing to show up to the Quincy Pharmacy this past Friday and get told that your insurance has been denied and you will have to pay full price, which would have been $800 on a must-have prescription. In the middle of a pandemic where, I have had two children in daycare, full time since March and this past paycheck my insurance almost doubled. This is not something my family can afford. Luckily the pharmacist had a discount card that I was able to use and it made the prescriptions much more affordable.
When I made a call to the representative yesterday morning to get some answers, they called me back the same day stating the county had not paid the bill since Nov. 15. They give a 10-day grace period and as of the 25th of November we were all ineligible and the county was then notified. The representative stated they had received a check yesterday afternoon for nonpayment. It was very convenient that all of a sudden they got a payment.
I was able to call our health care representative and get answers within hours of calling so why is it taking over three months to get a bill paid?
I know that I am not the only one who finds it funny or even asked the question … where’s the money going? Why is this not taken care of as we pay two months in advance? What other bills have not been paid on time with our money that we have paid into?
Today I ask you as a board of supervisors to do your job and please be the supervisors to our county and employees and consider this a huge wake-up call as this is not the only thing happening on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Thank you for your time.
Katharine Clubb
Plumas County employee
Editor’s note: Plumas News is aware of the insurance issue, as well as other concerns, and will be looking in to the situation.