Milwaukee County officials are calling for an \u201cemergency action\u201d after learning that the contract covering health insurance for thousands of county employees has lapsed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During a Jan. 29 committee on finance meeting, Milwaukee County Supervisors learned that the county\u2019s health care contract with UnitedHealthcare expired at the end of last year. County Corporation Counsel Scott Brown said the contract is one of the \u201csingle most important contracts in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s enormous risk to us operating \u2026 without this contract,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
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The county\u2019s deputy corporation counsel William Davidson said there could be \u201ccatastrophic risk\u201d if the county does not move to approve a contract soon. He said the ability for county employees to \u201creceive and pay for services might be affected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milwaukee County Supervisor Steve Taylor said he was angry, calling the situation \u201cunacceptable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is crazy,\u201d Taylor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an interview with WPR Friday evening, Taylor\u00a0said more than 3,000 county employees are covered by the plan.\u00a0He said coverage for employees is continuing under the old contract. However, Brown said if an employee does have a large claim before a new contract is signed, the lapse could leave UnitedHealthcare \u201cin a position to deny it.\u201d<\/p>\n