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City reports prescription insurance switch caused temporary coverage problems; city covered employees' drug costs while fixes applied
Summary
City staff told the council that a vendor onboarding error by the new prescription drug carrier left some employees unlisted in the system over the New Year; the city temporarily covered out‑of‑pocket prescription charges while the carrier and broker corrected records.
City staff reported to the Common Council Jan. 6 that a vendor onboarding error by the city's new prescription drug carrier caused some employees to be omitted from the carrier system at the start of the year, and that the city temporarily covered prescription charges while the issue was resolved.
Human Resources/benefits staff said they learned of the problem on Friday from the city's broker, USI, and worked with Prime Therapeutics (the new prescription drug administrator) through the weekend to fix enrollments. Staff said the city covered employees' prescription costs temporarily so affected workers would not have to pay out of pocket while the new carrier was brought online. "We did cover employees script costs from the city standpoint, so that they didn't have to pay out of pocket as the scripts were filled," the presenter said.
Staff reported that Prime is getting the remaining issues resolved, that digital cards are available to employees, and that physical insurance cards will arrive by mail soon. The city apologized to affected employees and said it is committed to making employees whole for any temporary inconveniences.
Why it matters: The error affected employee access to prescription benefits and required an interim city payment to prevent out‑of‑pocket charges; staff said the issue is being corrected and that the city covered costs while the carrier processed enrollments.
