On January 18th, 2022, the Independence City Council adopted Resolution 6763. The Resolution directed the City Manager to pursue an external forensic audit of the Stay Well Fund. This item was added to the agenda at the request of former At-Large Councilmember Mike Huff. The item was not recommended by the City Manager, nor was it requested by the City's Stay Well Health Insurance Advisory Committee. Nevertheless, the item was adopted by the City Council.
The Stay Well Committee held a special meeting on February 16, 2022, to review Resolution 6763. It was determined that a forensic audit was a form of litigation that would require depositions and further legal proceedings according to GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board), that the Committee felt was not warranted at this time. The Committee determined that a Comprehensive Financial Audit would be a more accurate representation of the information that was being requested with the additional scope of work to include payment of claims and the changes to the Healthcare plan over the last 5 years.
On March 3, 2022, Director of Finance & Administration Bryan Kidney provided a memo to the City Manager providing his thoughts on the Stay Well Committee memo and to also make suggestions on what he felt would be the best use of funds to help alleviate concerns being brought forward by the Council. Mr. Kidney recommended a performance audit to address specific questions. The City Manager directed Mr. Kidney to meet with the Stay Well Committee to gain their support for this approach.
On March 9, 2022, Director of Finance & Administration Bryan Kidney, Deputy Director of Finance & Administration Cindy Gray, and Stay Well Committee Co-Chairs Mike Veit and Cindy Culp met to discuss the most recent Stay Well Committee recommendation. It was mutually agreed City Council Resolution 6763 would not address the Committee’s questions nor those of City staff. It was further agreed that the Stay Well Committee’s recommendation would be duplicative of the annual audit and fall short of addressing the Committee’s questions. The questions the Stay Well Committee would like addressed as part of a review were discussed and include:
• Long-term impact moving post-65 retirees onto a group Medicare plan.
• Impact of discontinuing the Stay Well Clinic and subsequent transition to Hy-Vee clinics.
• Long-term impact of Stay Well Fund incentivizing consumer-driven plan enrollment through HSA contributions.
• Review of claims paid.
It was agreed that staff would solicit proposals for a Performance Audit to address the following questions:
• Long-term impact moving post-65 retirees into a Medicare plan.
• Discontinuing the Stay Well Clinic and subsequent transition to Hy-Vee clinics.
• Long-term impact of Stay Well Fund incentivizing consumer-driven plan enrollment through HSA contributions.
• Review of claims paid.
• Impact of key Stay Well Committee recommendations from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021.
• Impact of recommendations brought to Stay Well Committee from the City’s consultants and staff but not yet adopted.
City staff and the Stay Well Committee are in the process of initiating this performance audit. However, City Council action is requested to repeal Resolution 6763 so that the City is not required to abide by the terms of the Resolution and needlessly expend funds on a forensic audit that neither City staff nor the Stay Well Committee see as being necessary or helpful in any way.