Resident raises concern after county letter removes coverage for medication; board says no action yet, will address in budget

Annette Christie, introducing herself as from Keeler Township, told the board she received a county letter dated Sept. 11 (mailed Oct. 1) stating a medication prescribed to her would no longer be covered by county-provided health insurance because of cost. Christie said the county benefits manager authored the letter and that the communication provided no alternatives beyond asking her to consult her doctor or to increase contributions to a flexible spending account.

Christie said the letter disclosed information that could identify her medical treatment and asked the board to consider two items: "Find another way to trim the budget without cutting benefits for those of us that this affects" and adopt a policy to prevent county employees, including the benefits manager, from having access to identifiable employee medical details. She told the board she regretted that publicly raising the issue would disclose her medication but felt she had to speak up.

A board member said the board had taken no action on benefit changes and that the board retains ultimate decision-making authority over coverage; the member recommended forbearance on implementing any cost-saving changes and suggested communications be sent clarifying that no board decision had yet been made. Other commissioners noted the county operates a self-funded plan with Anthem Blue Cross as third-party administrator and described the county's ability as a self-directed plan to cover treatments when the board chooses to do so. One commissioner recounted a prior case where the board authorized coverage for an out‑of‑region experimental treatment.

The board directed that the benefit matter will be a discussion topic as part of the upcoming budget process and asked staff to return with details; no formal policy change or vote occurred during the meeting.