St. Mary’s County schools report $5.8M–$6.5M health‑care shortfall; three fix options presented to commissioners

St. Mary’s County Public Schools Superintendent Doctor Martirano told the Board of County Commissioners on April 28 that the school system faces an estimated $5.8 million to $6.5 million shortfall in fiscal 2014 health‑care costs and outlined three options for closing the gap.

Martirano and the school system's newly hired assistant superintendent for fiscal services and human resources, Tammy McCourt, said higher-than-expected prescription costs, more employees enrolled in plans and several very large individual claims drove the shortfall. "Healthcare is the real issue and I’ve been saying that for years," Martirano said, citing a run of unusually high brand‑drug usage and catastrophic claims.

The school system’s finance presentation, delivered by McCourt, estimated that prescription fills and brand‑drug usage had increased materially and that projected health claims for the remainder of the year made exact final totals uncertain. McCourt described an estimated shortfall “in the range of 5.8 to $6,500,000” and said two months of claims were still outstanding at the time of the presentation.

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