Miami-Dade Commission approves Aetna to administer county health plan after split vote

Miami-Dade County commissioners voted 7-2 to award Aetna the administrative-services contract for the county's self-insured employee health plan, the panel decided at a special meeting where outside consultants and competing bidders disputed the projected savings that drove the recommendation.

The vote, taken after more than three hours of presentations and questioning, followed an independent repricing analysis by Aon that concluded Aetna’s repriced medical claims and fees would be roughly $45,500,000 lower on an annualized basis than AvMed’s on the same claims data. AvMed disputed those findings, and its lead actuary warned commissioners that alternative calculations produced very different projections and that relying on the contested repricing could risk large costs over the life of the contract.

The matter mattered to commissioners because the contract covers tens of thousands of county employees and retirees and the county’s current five-year budget planning. Commissioners were also pressed by employees and some constitutional officers in the chamber who urged…