Thirty-five dependents of Porter County employees will be eliminated from the health plan July 1 after a recent dependent verification process aimed at protecting the county from unqualified expenses and unforeseen liability.

The Porter County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on the removal at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday morning, with Commissioners President Jim Biggs, R-North, absent.

Representatives from General Insurance Services (GIS) and American Fidelity explained that the process began March 10 with a communication to employees about the upcoming audit. Such audits are done every two years, according to Commissioner Barb Regnitz, R-Center.

Aram Touloukian of American Fidelity explained that seven rounds of communication were sent to employees asking for documents verifying eligibility of the dependents in question. Eight did not participate or complete the required documentation, 12 did not have sufficient documentation, and seven are spouses who qualify for health insurance on their own.

Touloukian said it costs $4,700 per year for the county to add one dependent to the plan. The removal of the 35 ineligible will save the county not only $150,000 to $160,000 annually, but could also protect the county if someone technically ineligible became a high-cost claimant.

The county has a separate insurance stop-loss policy that takes over claims after an individual tops out of the standard plan after $175,000 in claims. If that insurance provider asked for verification of qualification and a claimant failed that qualification the county could be responsible for those medical bills. “So we have a number of dependents who have hit the stop-loss level?” Regnitz said.

“Oh, absolutely,” replied Employee Benefits Advisor Candace Arvin of GIS.

“I think that’s what we have to protect our plan from happening,” Regnitz said. She confirmed with Arvin and Touloukian that employees may reenroll any qualifying dependents during open enrollment in the fall, should they be among the 35 who failed to supply adequate documentation.

In other business, commissioners gave Information Technology Director Lee Childress permission to set up a fund for additional appropriations that would be necessary if the County Council gives its blessing to an additional $400,000 expenditure for the purchase of 250 computers that will be necessary to run Windows 11. Windows 10 will stop receiving security patches in October and the computers purchased in 2007 to run it will not support the new software.

The board also unanimously approved a zoning map amendment of the Unified Development Ordinance allowing Heartland Christian Center in Morgan Township to change the zoning of 10.7 acres from low-density single-family residential (R1) to Institutional (I). The property in question is for the development of the future Sunshine Center, planned as a recreational facility for the disabled and their caregivers.

“We’re in the process of getting going,” said Heartland Pastor Phil Willingham.

Finally, during approval for NWI Activists/NWI NOW to hold their next two 50501 protests on Sunday and July 17, the petitioners were asked by Regnitz to speak with members of their groups.

“I am getting photos of the event, and some of them are inciting violence,” she said.

“Are you talking about the 86 47 ones?” NWI NOW Director Deb McLeod said.

“Yes,” she replied.

The women explained it is a commonly used restaurant term that means to remove or eject an item, as from a menu, when it has sold out, and that they would not condone violent rhetoric at their events.

The term has been under scrutiny since former FBI Director James Comey used the phrase recently. The implication is that he was referring to President Donald Trump.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary says the term has taken on its police and military meaning of “to kill.”

“Did they perceive that in the same way when they were spouting ‘86 46?’ ” McLeod asked of those sending complaints to Regnitz.

“We’re not going to have another presidential election for a couple years, so to say we’ll get rid of 47 now, the implication is violently,” Regnitz said.

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.