Committee approves financial and OSHA reports; insurance bids under review; June meeting canceled

Rutherford County’s Insurance Committee accepted several administrative reports, received an update on insurance bids under review and approved a recommendation to cancel the committee’s June meeting.

The committee voted to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, accepted financial reports for February and year-to-date figures showing deficits, and approved the monthly OSHA safety report. Financial presenter Ed Eveland reported February fund revenue of $1,914,484 and expenses of $2,110,090, a monthly shortfall of $195,605. Calendar-year totals through the reported period were revenue of $3,774,890 and expenditures of $4,407,326, a deficit of $632,436. For the fiscal year, Eveland reported revenue of $15,522,469 and expenses of $17,425,607, a variance of negative $1,903,138.

The OSHA report covered February and year-to-date numbers. Staff reported 25 incidents in February (15 at the Board of Education, nine at County General and one on the highway). Year-to-date incident frequency was 35, with 24 OSHA‑recordable incidents, five lost-day claims, 13 restricted-day claims and six other recordables. Reserves for the month were reported at $117,654 and year-to-date reserves at $157,895; staff said nine claims had closed year-to-date and three employees remained out of work as of the most recent update.

All three items—minutes, financial reports and the OSHA report—were approved by the committee (minutes and financials by roll call; OSHA report by voice vote).

Separately, staff and Gallagher broker Marissa Combs Smith briefed the committee on responses to the county’s insurance bids. Gallagher said five carriers responded to Medicare proposals (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Aetna, Benastar and Cigna). Committee staff told members Cigna has divested its Medicare Advantage business to Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC); staff said Gallagher is working with HCSC to confirm whether the bid will be honored. Ancillary bids were received from multiple carriers including MetLife, The Standard, Prudential, US Able, Dearborn Group, The Hartford, Securian, Horace Mann and Wise Benefits. Staff said responses are being entered into a spreadsheet for comparison and that the procurement timeline will bring a recommendation to the committee on May 1 before additional purchasing and budget steps.

Finally, staff proposed canceling the June 26 meeting to allow upgrades and repairs to the committee’s media and audio room. The committee approved the cancellation by voice vote and noted a special-called meeting could be scheduled if business requires.

Staff said packets and preliminary bid analyses will be provided to committee members ahead of the May 1 meeting when feasible.