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Moffat County approves $2.5 million settlement with Memorial Regional Health
Summary
The Moffat County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 28 approved a $2,500,000 settlement and release agreement with Memorial Regional Health, clarifying that existing patient payment plans and deductible/coinsurance balances remain collectible and that a third party is reprocessing certain claims.
The Moffat County Board of County Commissioners voted Jan. 28 to update its settlement and release agreement with Memorial Regional Health (MRH) for $2,500,000.
Commissioners discussed language in the agreement clarifying how previously collected or outstanding patient deductible and coinsurance balances will be handled as part of the settlement. The board moved and seconded the payment amount and approved the agreement by voice vote.
The clarification adopted by the board states that any patient fund balances applied to deductibles or coinsurance will not be refunded by MRH to patients or to the county as part of the settlement. A county staff member clarified, “We’re not going back and rebilling patients because we’re not reprocessing claims, like, for this time period. We’re not going back and nobody will be getting new bills,” and added that patients who are already on payment plans would remain responsible for those balances.
A separate speaker emphasized the contractual nature of those obligations, saying the deductible and coinsurance amounts “are contractually obligated to the employee or the employee's family,” and that the county would not have standing to contest those individual obligations.
Commissioners and staff said the agreement is signed and in effect. County staff reported that a third-party vendor, 6 Degrees, is reprocessing claims under its contract with MRH and that the audit identified a small number of patients who are due refunds; those refunds are being processed. One staff member described the contracted reprocessing as “priced at much lower than any of the private insurers on the market right now that MRH has an agreement with.”
During discussion commissioners framed the settlement as a practical resolution to a complex situation and noted the potential legal costs of litigating the claims. One commissioner said the settlement likely would cost less than defending multiple employee claims in court and that the outcome was reached without assigning blame.
The motion to update the county settlement and release agreement to Memorial Regional Health for $2,500,000 was made on the record, seconded, and passed by voice vote. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
The agreement and its clarifications mean the county and MRH will proceed with claim reprocessing through the contracted vendor, issue refunds to patients identified in the audit as due refunds, and continue to collect amounts owed under existing payment plans for deductibles and coinsurance.
Minutes and the signed agreement are part of the county record; staff noted interested parties can find meeting documents online and meetings on YouTube.
Less central items discussed earlier in the meeting included employee service anniversaries and a brief update that the county’s planning and zoning regulations were adjusted to align with the International Property Maintenance Code; those items did not produce formal actions related to the MRH settlement.
