When it chose a company last month to provide supplemental insurance to parish employees, the Jefferson Parish Council worked to clean its decision of any remnant of the insurance scandal that wracked the government in 2009. But records show that the agents and brokers who will be enrolling workers in the supplementary benefits plan are nonetheless associated with the...
When it chose a company last month to provide supplemental insurance to parish employees, the Jefferson Parish Council worked to clean its decision of any remnant of the insurance scandal that wracked the government in 2009. But records show that the agents and brokers who will be enrolling workers in the supplementary benefits plan are nonetheless associated with the insurance agency close to the heart of the controversy, which ultimately led to former Parish President Aaron Broussard's resignation.
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Gary Burke, barred from new policyStill, parish officials said Wednesday that they are confident that none of the agents directly involved in the 2009 scandal will be receiving commissions under the parish's new deal.
On Aug. 18, the council renewed its contract with Colonial Life & Accident Co. to provide voluntary health insurance for employees, beyond their regular coverage. The benefits include extras not covered under their standard health insurance policies, such as some cancer treatments or an accidental death payments.
Colonial Life is represented by agents associated with a local brokerage, B&A Insurance. In November, inquiries by The Times-Picayune and the Metropolitan Crime Commission showed agents with B&A Insurance were splitting commissions on a West Jefferson Medical Center policy with Lagniappe Industries, an insurance firm owned by Broussard's chief administrator, Tim Whitmer.
Whitmer and Broussard resigned in January, after these and other disclosures led to a federal criminal investigation.
The council has barred the agents involved in the West Jefferson Medical Center deal, including B&A owner Gary Burke, Jo Ann Toomy and Wally Pontiff Sr., from working for parish agencies. After the council selected Colonial Life in August, interim Parish President Steve Theriot wrote a letter asking Colonial Life manager Kevin Thompson that those three agents be removed from the company's list of enrollers. Thompson complied and signed an affidavit to that effect.
"Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company shall not utilize the services of Wally Pontiff, Joanne (sic) Toomy, Gary Burke and B&A Insurance for this contract or any other Jefferson Parish contract or any other contract for any public entity governed by the Jefferson Parish Council," the affidavit states.
A list of Colonial Life's "enrollment team" under the new agreement shows that the 15 of the 16 approved enrollers, brokers and administrators who will deal with parish employees are also associates of B&A. They are Brad Burke, Danny Riehm, Peggy Wooton, Bob Henry, Keith Roberts, Greg Morettini, Jack Beck, Cathy O'Neal, Brian Patureau, Gary McCarthy, Robert Brulet, Beth Wilson, Kenny Richoux, Nicole Jeanfreau and Duaine Duffy. Only enroller Brad Oestricher is not listed on B&A Insurance's website or described as in Colonial Life's initial proposal as a B&A associate.
Parish officials said they had been assured that Pontiff, Burke and Toomy would not be gaining any benefit from the new agreement.
"It's my understanding that the people (who) were involved in whatever controversies there were (at West Jefferson Medical Center) were not going to be getting any commissions," Councilman Tom Capella said. "Anybody that was involved in the controversy isn't collecting pay or anything."
"We have complied with everything the parish asked for," said Colonial Life spokeswoman Jeanne Reynolds.
A parish evaluation committee selected Colonial Life from among four proposals. The committee eliminated two nationally known companies, Aflac and Humana, for not offering complete descriptions of some of the benefits required by the administration, said parish attorney Peggy Barton. The committed rated a third company, Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association, lower than Colonial Life's offer; council Chairman John Young said that offer would have cost $80,000 more than Colonial Life.
"Colonial itself has done a good job," Young said. "They were put between a rock and a hard place as far as enrolling" because of the Lagniappe Industries scandal.
Theriot agreed with the committee's decision -- on one condition.
"They came up with the thing with Colonial and I said, 'Fine, as long as the people who were involved in the West Jefferson Medical Center were not involved here,'" he said.
Colonial still handles supplemental insurance policies for the public hospital's employees.
The federal investigation and the controversy at the hospital led directly to the council's increased scrutiny of large parish contracts, officials said.
"There's no question that there have been lessons learned as a result of that," said Councilman Chris Roberts, who pointed to several new laws that require greater disclosure from potential contractors as evidence.
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Richard Rainey can be reached at rrainey@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7052.