Contract problem plagues county health insurance coverage

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

A communications glitch caused an insurance nightmare for several Caldwell County employees last month.

During a brief meeting of the Caldwell County Commissioners Court on Monday, insurance representative Bob Treacy approached the Court to explain a contract issue that has caused county employees to be told medical ex

penses incurred at Central Texas Medical Center would not be covered by their Humana insurance.

According to Treacy, Humana Insurance has been involved in a month-to-month coverage contract with CTMC and its attached physician’s group for quite some time. In March, that contract was terminated pending firmer negotiations. However, Treacy said, coverage should have continued through the end of March in some cases, and through the end of April in others.

“What was happening was a miscommunication with CTMC employees,” he told the Commissioners. “Employees were telling patients that the hospital didn’t accept Humana, and that wasn’t exactly true.”

On April 7, County Treasurer Lori Rangel-Pompa released a memo to county employees suggesting they seek medical attention through the Seton hospital network, either at the Luling-Edgar B. Davis Hospital, or in Austin.

Both expect the situation to be rectified in the near future.

In other business, the Court heard a lengthy presentation from Lockhart-area resident Fred Wiegand, who is seeking the county’s assistance in resolving a property dispute involving the right of way for County Road 220.

Several questions cloud the property dispute, including whether the right of way belongs to the county, and whether the property in question is in the county, or within the Lockhart city limits.

County Judge HT Wright suggested, and the other Commissioners agreed, that the issue should be tabled until research on the history and ownership of the property could be clarified.
The Court also considered the outdoor burning ban in Caldwell County.
Although the area has received some rain, and the possibility of more is forecast for later this week, Emergency Management Coordinator Jim Parker suggested conditions are still far too dangerous throughout the county to allow outdoor burning.

The Commissioners unanimously voted to continue the outdoor burn ban.

In brief news:
Wright read proclamations declaring April both “Fair Housing Month” and “Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month” in Caldwell County.

They approved, in a split vote, a variance allowing a Lytton Springs property owner to sell a .76-acre tract of property. Commissioner Tom Bonn voted against the measure, citing a need for the Court to follow the subdivision rules they have enacted and to consider more thoroughly allowing those rules to be broken.

The Court approved a donation from Precinct 4 Constable Art Villarreal, who donated a fully equipped vehicle to be added to the Constables’ fleet. The car replaces a vehicle in the fleet that is not operable.

They nominated William “Bill” Watson, of Luling, to sit on the board of directors of the Caldwell County Appraisal District, filling the unexpired term of a director who resigned last month.
The County paid bills in the amount of $210,604.30.

The Caldwell County Commissioners meet on the second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9 a.m. in Room 100 of the Caldwell County Courthouse.