MONTICELLO – During public comment at the Sullivan County Legislature meeting on August 11, retiree from Sullivan County Community College, Sharon Sand, claimed that SUNY Sullivan has not been paying their retiree healthcare premiums, totaling in the amount of nearly $6 million.

In a report from the New York Department of Civil Service dated June 6 addressed to the Sullivan County Community Col- lege, it was stated that the college owes $5,959,272.26 for the NYS Employee Health Insurance account. The due date for this payment was June 30, 2022.

Sand explained before members of the County Legislature about her background with the college, stating that she worked for the college as Human Resources Director.

Quaintance told the Democrat that he was unaware of where Sand got her information, but that what she said was not the whole story.

“We ensure that all employees, active and retired, have access to quality health insurance. While the college’s revenue is limited to three main sources - Sullivan County, New York State and tuition, with limits on how much we receive - the cost of NYSHIP premiums continues to rise outside of our control. Unlike the four- year SUNY schools, the state does not pay the cost of our benefits,” Quaintance told the Democrat in response to the public comment.

Quaintance said that the college is working with the Department of Civil Service to get the bill settled and are exploring other options for employees.

“For instance, several years ago we identified a plan that provides superior coverage to our retirees who are over 65 and does so at a considerable savings to both the college and to those retirees who voluntarily elected to participate in the Medicare Advantage Plan option,” Quaintance said.

“There are ways to solve this issue, but we need to work together with retirees and our unions to find a fiscally responsible solution,” Quaintance said. 

Speaking before the Legislature

Speaking before the Legislature on August 18, SUNY Sullivan President Jay Quaintance reviewed the college’s past and future plan of action on health care for current and retired staff.

As reported by the Democrat in 2020, in seeking to save money, the college prompted retirees to select an alternative health care option. In doing so, nearly 45 retirees and their depen- dents made the switch from the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) to the Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO.

“Health insurance costs are one of these things that, for us, rises without our ability to control anything,” Quaintance said.

He stated that the college sees an average increase of 12 percent each year in the cost of health insurance.

Quaintance noted that the college does not receive their rate increase from NYSHIP until after the budget has been finalized and approved by the Board of Trustees and the County Legislature.

“We don’t even have an opportunity to accurately address that concern just given the way that the process works,” Quaintance said.

Quaintance noted that it goes further than just the revenue versus expenditure side of things, but also of the shares internally that each employee contributes to the health insurance that they benefit from.

“Our employees are paying for a family plan about nine percent of the cost of health insurance,” Quaintance said. “I don’t know anywhere else in the world where a nine percent con- tribution to a family plan is considered reasonable ... We have absolutely no interest in cutting people’s benefits, but it’s a bit out of balance at this point.”

Quaintance stated that the college will soon be heading into negotiations with their unions, with one of the talking points being what they believe their share of health insurance [cost] should be for what might be a “reasonable amount for professionals to pay for healthcare.”