Glen Cove ends health coverage for retirees who didn't qualify

The Glen Cove City Council voted Tuesday to end coverage for six retirees who an audit earlier this year found were not eligible to receive health insurance from the city.

The city paid more than $600,000 in premiums and Medicare reimbursements for the six ineligible retirees, according to the audit by Manhattan-based Marks Paneth Accountants & Advisors. The audit and a report on it by the city controller were circulated in February to the council, mayor and city attorney.

“We are not only taking the time to look at it but have put together some sort of response to fix the problems that were created,” Mayor Timothy Tenke said at the meeting. “But again, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg that we’re looking at here.”

Three retirees didn't meet the minimum requirement of five years of service to receive health benefits, according to the audit. Leonard Baron worked 2.6 years as a provisional building department administrator. Anthony Maurino was building department administrator for 4.8 years. Francis Deegan, a city attorney under former mayor and current Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), worked 4.1 years and left the position in 1998, the audit found.

Gilbert Gallego, who worked six years in public information and retired in 1973, didn’t meet the minimum requirements of working at least 20 hours a week, making at least $2,000 a year, or being elected to serve, according to the audit report.

Anthony Jimenez, a former city councilman, and Vincent Taranto, former city attorney, don’t qualify because of a resolution passed in 2011 that suspended health benefits for city council members, the city attorney and the city historian, according to the audit. 

The council voted unanimously to end the men's coverage on June 1. The step should save the city more than $70,000 a year, Tenke said.

Council members also approved a resolution aimed at cleaning up the city’s personnel records. Only 12 personnel files of the 191 reviewed had documentation that proved a retiree’s eligibility for health benefits, according to the audit.

The resolution requires that every employee and retiree receiving benefits have a personnel file. It also mandates the city to create a database of recipients. Council members also required that benefits be granted only with approval of the city’s personnel officer and the controller, and that an audit of the city’s health insurance coverage be conducted every five years.

The council also passed a resolution to make Medicare Part B reimbursements once a year instead of biannually to save on administrative costs.

In her report, Glen Cove Controller  Sandra Clarson recommended that  the city attempt to recover some of the premium payments it made in error. New York State Health Insurance Program policy requires that it reimburse the city for six months of premiums worth $28,693 by clawing back the money from the retirees. But Tenke said the city is not currently looking to recoup that money or pursue legal action to recover additional expenses.

“I’m against the claw back of any premiums because the city was paying it freely,” Tenke said.

The city also is planning to terminate coverage for the 11 retirees who didn’t respond to the auditors unless they provide proof of their eligibility, Tenke said.

Council members said the city should also consider doing an audit of active employees.  

“Unfortunately, there is a violation of the public trust that is certainly apparent here,” Council member Nicholas DiLeo Jr. said before the vote. "Whether the actions that were taken were in error or deliberate. we’re here tonight to stop the expenditure of misappropriated tax dollars.”