Milwaukee County healthcare mess: Board approves new contract, Crowley defends response

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County Board approved a new contract Thursday providing healthcare benefits for more than 5,000 employees. The board had scrambled into action in recent days upon learning the county's benefits director simply let the previous contract expire.

The former benefits director, Tony Maze, was immediately fired after news of the debacle became public. County Executive David Crowley, who is one of the leading Democratic candidates for governor, defended his administration's response to the healthcare mess while repeatedly noting employees have remained covered the entire time.

"We have employees who are responsible for doing their jobs," Crowley told reporters ahead of Thursday's board vote. "And so, learning this person did not follow the ordinance the correct way, we took swift action, as we needed to do."

When asked what exactly went wrong that led to the contract lapse, which was not relayed to the board until nearly one month had passed, Crowley did not answer and walked away.

Board members were divided on whether they should take time to ensure this was the best possible contract, but ultimately, the board adopted a proposed contract in a 13-5 vote Thursday afternoon. The contract covers about 5,100 county workers through the end of 2030.

A fiscal note attached the contract estimates the cost of the contract at about $90 million; a portion of which will be paid to United Healthcare to cover administrative costs, while the majority is an estimate of how much the county will pay out in claims, as the county is self-insured.

Most board supervisors opted to approve a new contract Thursday, believing there was risk United Healthcare would walk away from the table or negotiations would be complicated by any further delay.

The five supervisors who voted against the contract were Deanna Alexander, Patti Logsdon, Steve Taylor, Kathleen Vincent and Sheldon Wasserman.

Logsdon went so far as to say she wanted law enforcement to get involved in the investigation into how the deadlines were missed.

"I suggest we recommend that we send this to the [district attorney]'s office," she said. "To the [Wisconsin Department of Criminal Justice] to conduct a criminal investigation for misconduct in public office."

While nobody else on the board expressed a willingness to go that far, even supervisors who voted to approve the contract said the conversation about what went wrong was far from over.

"From the executive's office, all the way down to anyone who has a hand in executing these contracts," Supervisor Felesia Martin said. "One person is gonna take the whole load for what happened? I call B.S."

Board supervisors, from both progressive and conservative backgrounds, said it was unfortunate the healthcare fiasco will become an issue in the governor's race. 

Both Steve Taylor and Wasserman said they don't believe Crowley is to blame for the contract lapse, but they added he's ultimately accountable as the state's top elected official. They also noted his candidacy for governor makes the situation even uglier.

"The accusations are flying, both from Democrats and Republicans," Wasserman said. "And I feel really badly for our county executive, David Crowley, because he's gonna take the brunt of this. It was on his watch."

Earlier this week, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who is also running for governor, told reporters in Madison the healthcare situation in Milwaukee County was a "breakdown in leadership."

Crowley's campaign fired back, questioning whether Rodriguez makes any relevant decisions as lieutenant governor.

Thursday, another Democratic candidate, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, held a roundtable on small businesses in Milwaukee. He pivoted to attack Republicans when asked about the Milwaukee County healthcare situation.

"I just want to be very clear, my opponent is Tom Tiffany," Barnes said before instead discussing federal healthcare policy.